So, I just learned this grammar. For example, I know that we can say
这个商店的价格从五十元到五千元不等。
But, I thought I could also say
这个商店的价格从五十元到五千元。
What does 不等 add to the sentence? Does it slightly change the meaning? Does it make it more colloquial?
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The later gives a sense of something is missing and is somehow wired, although it can be understood. Maybe there's a grammar mistake in it.– JamesApr 14, 2016 at 15:02
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2Note the example sentence isn't strictly grammatical or natural 这个商店的价格从五十元到五千元不等 means the price to buy the store (unless you mean it). It's more correct to say 这个商店里东西的价格从五十元到五千元不等.– NS.X.Apr 15, 2016 at 22:20
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3 Answers
You may understand 等 = 同 (that's we say 等同 when two things equal each other). Therefore 不等 here works as an adverb meaning 不同 (differently). Overall it's saying the price changes from 五十元 to 五千元 with various amounts in between. It doesn't change the meaning but adds certain emphasis. On the contrary, it makes it sound more official, not colloquial.
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Please note we don't say 从A到B不同 in a natural way.
I would say the meaning is the same.
'从 ... 到 ...' is a phrase to describe a range, while '不等' means 'diverging'. Putting '不等' at the end will to some extent emphasize the meaning of 'diverging within a range' and you can take it as an echo for the phrase which makes the sentence more complete and sounds better.
不等 is not 不等于 。此处表示的是一个范围。 价格50到5000不等 ，等价于range（50，5000）。
