Mathematical English Help Sheet

Written  for all

Reading  there exist(s)
form
2+2=4 2 plus 2 equals 4 AB A is a subset of B
a–b The union of A and B
A minus B AB
A union B
ab A plus or minus B
The intersect(ion) of A and B
A times B AB
ab A multiplied by B
A intersect B
sin x The sine of X or sine X /sain/
ab A divided by B cos x The cosine of X or cos X /kɒz/
a/b A over B tan x The tangent of X or tan X
½ (a) half sin-1 x The inverse sine of X
⅔ Two thirds sin2 3 Sine squared 3 theta
¾ Three quarters x X prime(d) or X dash(ed)
/3 pi over 3 or pi by 3 x X double prime(d)
X double dash(ed)
f(x) F of X
x̂ X hat
x2 X squared
x X tilde
x3 X cubed
x* X star
xn X to the (power) N
x X bar
(2x + y)7 2 X plus Y all to the (power) 7
x1/n X to the (power) one over N
The square root of X Greek Letters pronunciation
x
Root X
3
 Alpha
x The cube root of X  Beta /'bi:tǝ/
x
e E to the (power) X ,  Gamma
e -2x+3 E to the minus 2 X plus 3 ,  Delta
ln x log X or the natural log of X  Epsilon
 Zeta /'zi:tǝ/
log x log (to the base 10 of) X
 Eta /'i:tǝ/
The absolute value of X
|x| The modulus of X or mod X ,  Theta /'i:tǝ/
x! X factorial  Kappa
 Lambda
xn X (sub) N
 Mu /mju:/
x  x0 X tends to X nought
 Nu /nju:/
x>y X is greater than Y  Xi /sai/ or /ksai/
xy X is less than or equal to Y  Pi /pai/
1 x  2 X is greater than 1 and less than 2  Rho
x y X is much greater than Y ,  Sigma
 Tau /taʊ/ or /tɔ:/
xy X is not equal to Y
,  Phi /fai/
xy X is approximately equal to Y
 Chi /kai/
xy X is proportional to Y ,  Psi /sai/ or /psai/
 therefore ,  Omega /'əʊmigə/
 implies
 if and only if (or means the same as)

Department of Mathematics, International University, VNU-HCMC Page 1 of 2 07/09/2017

Names of Other Symbols
() (round) brackets
[] Square brackets
{} Curly brackets
 Nabla
 (right) arrow

Written form Reading

lim f ( x) The limit of F of X as X tends to infinity
x
dy The derivative of Y with respect to X
dx D Y by D X
d2y The second derivative of Y with respect to X
dx 2 D 2 Y by D X squared
y The partial derivative of Y with respect to X
x Partial D Y by D X
 y dx The integral of Y with respect to X
b The integral of Y with respect to X between (X equals) A and (X equals) B
 a y dx OR The integral of Y with respect to X from (X equals) A to (X equals) B
For all positive , there exists positive  such
  0,   0, x : 0  x  x0   , f ( x)   that, for all X satisfying 0  x  x0   , the
absolute value of F of X is less than  .

Practice
How would you read the following?
3 squared x plus 2 times x times y minus y to the 5
1) 3x2 + 2xy – y5 + 5/13 = (x – 1)3 over 13 equals x minus 1 all to the 3.

2) y   e  sin x
x
y equals plus or minus the square root of E to the x plus sine x
The absolute value of x minus 1 is greater than 0 is less than or
3) 0 < |x – 1|  /2
equal to pi over 2
4) lim f ( x)  log 2 7 The limit of F of x as x tends to minus infinity
x

5) an = x! / n! a n equals x factorial over n factorial

dx  13
6) t  cos 4t The derivative of x with respect to t equals t to the minus 1 over 3
dt
plus cos 4 times t

7) 2 f ( x) dx The integral of x with respect to between 2 to infinity

Department of Mathematics, International University, VNU-HCMC Page 2 of 2 07/09/2017