从A到B
Reach for this when you want to sketch a range or trajectory in one breath — from a starting point A to an endpoint B. Works for time (from Monday to Friday), space (from Beijing to Shanghai), people (from kids to grandparents), and stages (from design to mass production). In business and news writing, it's a workhorse for showing scope, progression, or transformation without a long enumeration.
Structure
从 [A] 到 [B]
cóng... dào...
How to Think About It
从 plants a flag at the start, 到 plants one at the end, and the listener fills in everything in between. The pattern doesn't just connect two points — it implies the whole span between them counts. Chinese keeps both anchors; English often drops one ('through Friday'), but in Chinese you must say both ends or the trajectory feels incomplete.
Examples
从早上九点到下午五点都是上班时间。
Cóng zǎoshang jiǔ diǎn dào xiàwǔ wǔ diǎn dōu shì shàngbān shíjiān.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. is all work time.
从设计到生产，全部在国内完成。
Cóng shèjì dào shēngchǎn, quánbù zài guónèi wánchéng.
From design to production, everything is done domestically.
从孩子到老人，大家都喜欢这部电影。
Cóng háizi dào lǎorén, dàjiā dōu xǐhuān zhè bù diànyǐng.
From kids to seniors, everyone loves this movie.
Common Mistake
Learners drop 到 and just say 从 A B, on the model of English 'from A to B' where 'to' can blur into prepositions. Without 到, the endpoint floats and the sentence becomes ungrammatical.
我从北京上海开车。
我从北京到上海开车。
Don't Confuse With
从...开始
从 X 开始 marks only the starting point ('starting from X'); no endpoint specified. 从 A 到 B always names both ends.
由...至...
Same meaning, formal/written register. Used in official documents, schedules, and contracts. Speak with 从...到, write 由...至 in formal contexts.
从A起到B止
Emphatic version with explicit start (起) and stop (止) markers, used when boundaries must be precise — legal text, deadlines, eligibility windows.
Practice
___ 设计 ___ 打样到批量生产。
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从 / 到
从周一 ___ 周五我都很忙。
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到
Arrange: 到 / 从 / 公司 / 我 / 家 / 开车 / 半小时
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从我家到公司开车要半小时。
From college students to working professionals, everyone uses this app.
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从大学生到上班族，大家都用这个应用。
Write a sentence using 从A到B to describe a range of people, places, or times.
Show answer
从北京到上海，高铁只要四个多小时。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: