Mathematical Language Talking about numbers and variables with Manglish* Let’s look at a math inequality in English. difference of 3 and a number is greater than the sum of 1 and that same “The number”. We can say that much more quickly: So it’s quicker and shorter to write in Manglish than English BUT there is some time that a student has to put in to learn what the symbols mean. So let’s take that apart. The difference of 3 and a number: . Notice that the difference of a number and 3 is not the same phrase (). This is because subtraction does not commute; which is to say that the first number mentioned has to be the first symbol in the phrase. The first number, to the left of the minus sign, is called the minuend and the second, on the right of the minus sign, is called the subtrahend. Which is which really matters! There are a couple of ways to say could just use that exact word. “subtract”…you You may also say difference” or by. “the “reduced One other thing to notice, number” is an unknown, a variable. So we use as “a “x” a place holder for the number. There are many letters commonly used for an unspecified or unknown number. What about the comparative: is greater than? We use and note that the symbol “>” points toward the smaller number. We have less than”, than or equal “is “greater to” and than or equal to”. ( ). “less The sum of one and that same number: . Note that the unknown number is specifically stated to be the same one so we’re safe reusing Could we have “x”. said Yes! “”?
Mathematical Language Talking about numbers and variables with Manglish* Let’s look at a math inequality in English. “The difference of 3 and a number is greater than the sum of 1 and that same number”. We can say that much more quickly: So it’s quicker and shorter to write in Manglish than English BUT there is some time that a student has to put in to learn what the symbols mean. So let’s take that apart. The difference of 3 and a number: . Notice that the difference of a number and 3 is not the same phrase (). This is because subtraction does not commute; which is to say that the first number mentioned has to be the first symbol in the phrase. The first number, to the left of the minus sign, is called the minuend and the second, on the right of the minus sign, is called the subtrahend. Which is which really matters! There are a couple of ways to say “subtract”…you could just use that exact word. You may also say “the difference” or “reduced by. One other thing to notice, “a number” is an unknown, a variable. So we use “x” as a place holder for the number. There are many letters commonly used for an unspecified or unknown number. What about the comparative: is greater than? We use “>” and note that the symbol points toward the smaller number. We have “is less than”, “greater than or equal to” and “less than or equal to”. ( ). The sum of one and that same number: . Note that the unknown number is specifically stated to be the same one so we’re safe reusing “x”. Could we have said “”? Yes!
01%20Mathematical%20Language.docx