Lesson 2: MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

The language of mathematics is the system used by mathematicians to

communicate mathematical ideas among themselves. This language consists of a
substrate of some natural language (for example English) using technical terms and
grammatical conventions that are peculiar to mathematical discourse, supplemented by
a highly specialized symbolic notation for mathematical formulas.

In everyday living, we may encounter and even use expressions in English that
may connote mathematical values or symbols without our knowing it. These encounters
include riding a vehicle; re-loading cellular phones in a store; buying a particular item
from a store; taking allowances from parents or guardians; expectations of grades in a
particular subject; number of friends in Social Media who are sincere, honest, or the
opposite; friends who like a photo uploaded on Facebook; number of crushes in this
School; number of hours spent using the Internet; and many more.

The translation of these encounters into mathematical expressions and vice-

versa, however, is found to be a little complicated, especially if our knowledge of
English grammar is limited.

Specific Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, students are expected to:

1. Discuss the language, symbols and conventions of mathematics;

2. Explain the nature of mathematics as a language;
3. Perform operations on mathematical sentences;
4. Convert mathematical sentences to English expressions;
5. Convert algebraic sentences to English expressions; and
6. Appreciate that mathematics is a useful language.
I. Language, Symbols, and Conventions of Mathematics

The language of mathematics makes it easy to express the kinds of symbols, syntax
and rules that mathematicians like to do and characterized by the following:

i. Precise (able to make very fine distinctions) Example:

The essential understanding of place value is that digits take on different

meanings based on their place value position. We teach students that an 8 in the
ones place has a value of 8, while an 8 in the hundreds place has a value of
800. So how important is it, then, that we say the number 807 as eight hundred
seven, rather than eight-o-seven? When we take short cuts naming numbers, we
often strip all the place value meaning out of the number. No wonder students
get confused. When numbers are spoken correctly, we should hear the place
value of every digit.

ii. Concise (able to say things briefly) Example:

The long English sentence can be shortened using mathematical symbols. Two
x squared plus three is seven, which means 2x2 + 3 = 7.

iii. Powerful (able to express complex thought with relative ease)

Example:

The application of critical thinking and problem-solving skill requires the

comprehension, analysis and reasoning to obtain the correct solution.

Conversion of English expression to Mathematical Sentences and vice-versa

We begin by describing the basic mathematical operations in the English language.

There are only 5 basic operations in mathematics excluding exponentiation. Each of
these operations has a corresponding English translation as shown in the table below.
Symbols/ Basic English Terms
Operations

= Equals, is equal to (most common mistake, “is equals to”),

represents, is the same as, is, are and the conjugations of
the verb “to be”, is similar to, is equivalent to, exactly,
results in.

+ Plus, sum, total, added to, added with, added by,

augmented, raised, more, more than, and, increased, put
together.

- Minus, difference, subtracted from, subtracted by, diminish,

less, less than, decreased, separated.
 ● or () Times, product, multiplied by, multiplied with, multiplied to,
doubled, tripled (etc.), twice, thrice (etc.)

/, ÷ Divided by, quotient, per, ratio, halved, over, over all

These symbols are used in different mathematical operations, and the manner in which
these will be read follows the English language. Consider the following examples:
Basic Mathematical English translations

Statements
6 + 4 = 10 • Six plus four equals ten
• Six added by four is ten.
• The sum of six and four is ten.
• Six increased by four is equal to ten.

Common errors:

• Six plus four is equals to ten. (Grammar)

• The sum of six and four equal to ten.

(Grammar)
10 – 2 = 8 • Ten minus two is eight.
• Ten diminished by two is equal to eight.
• Ten less two is eight.
• The difference of ten and two is eight.

Common Errors:
• Ten less than two is eight. (Connotes different
meaning)
• The difference of two and ten is eight.

(Connotes different meaning)

3(4) = 12 • Three times four is twelve.
• The products of three and four is equal to
twelve.
• Thrice the number four is twelve.

Common Errors:

• Triple the four is twelve. (Grammar)

• Thrice the product of three and four is
twelve. (Redundant)
 9÷3 = 3 • Nine divided by three is three.
• The quotient of nine and three is three
• The ratio of nine and three is equal to three
Common errors:
• The quotient of nine and three is three
(Connotes different meaning)
• The ratio of nine and three is to three.

(Connotes different meaning)

Complicated expressions are not so difficult to read. Below are complicated

expressions:

Combined

Mathematical English Translations

Statements
• The sum of six and two all over eight is one.
=1
• The ratio of six plus two, and eight is equal to one.
• One is the quotient when the sum of six and two is
divided by eight.

Common Errors

• Six plus two divided by eight is one. (Connotes

different meaning)
2(12 – 4) = 16 • Twice the difference of twelve and four is sixteen
• The product of twelve and two less four is sixteen.

Common Errors:

• Double the difference of twelves and four is

sixteen. (Connotes different meaning)
• Twelve minus four times two is sixteen.
(Connotes different meaning)
I. Conversion of Algebraic Expressions to English Sentences

By applying this concept to algebra, we use English translation of the variable x as “the
number” or “a number”. The following examples are useful.
Algebraic English Translations
Statements

2x = 10 • Twice a number is equal to ten.

• Two times a number is ten.

3(2x – 4) = 7 • Thrice the difference of twice a number and four is seven.

• Three, multiplied to the difference of twice a number less four, is

seven.

2(n+1)
=5 • The ratio of twice the sum of a number and one, and three is
equal to five
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