Is "equals to," as in "one plus one equals to two," ungrammatical? [closed]
I study mathematics alongside many Chinese students. They will often use the phrase "equals to," as in "one plus one equals to two." Is this usage incorrect?
To use equal as a verb, consider two examples of the many dictionary definitions:
equal (verb) = to have the same value, size, etc as something else, often shown using a symbol (=):
"Two plus two equals four."
Cambridge
equal: transitive verb
to be equal to especially : to be identical in value to
Merriam Webster
Hence we say "2+2 equals 4" (The Cambridge example)
This is equivalent to saying "2+2 is identical in value to 4" (the Merriam Webster example)
To say "2+2 equals to 4" fits neither of these usages. It is therefore incorrect, or at least it uses "to" unnecessarily.