Learning the

Language of
Math
The Language and Grammar of
Mathematics

Jaymar L. Bonaobra, MAMathEd

Instructor
 Characteristics of the Mathematical
Language
 Precise(able to make a very fine distinctions)
 Concise (able to say things briefly)
 Powerful (able to complex thoughts with relative ease)
Vocabulary vs. Sentences

Math like every language has its words

(vocabulary) and its rules for combining these words
into complete thoughts (sentences)
Nouns vs. Sentences
In English, nouns are used to name things we want
to talk about (like people, places and things; whereas
sentences are used to state complete thoughts.
A typical English sentence has at least one noun and at
least one verb.

Ex. Carol loves mathematics.

Nouns: Carol, mathematics
Verb: loves
Expressions vs. Sentences
The mathematical analogue of a ‘noun’ will be
called an expression. Expression is a mathematical
object of interest.
The mathematical analogue of a ‘sentence’ will also
be called a ‘sentence.’ A mathematical sentence, like an
English sentence, must state a complete thought
 English Mathematics
Name given to an NOUN (person, places, EXPRESSION
object of interest thing) Ex: 5, 2+3, 1/2

Ex: Carol, Idaho, book

A complete thought SENTENCE SENTENCE

Ex: Ex:
The capital of Idaho is 3+4=7
Boise 3+4=8
The capital of Idaho is
Pocatello
Synonyms in math
Most common type of mathematical expression
are numbers. And numbers have lots of different
names (in English, it’s called synonyms – different
names for the same object). This simple idea is
extremely important in mathematics.
Example:
5 3+2 4+1 1+1+1+1+1 10/2 0.5x10
Mathematical Sentences
Just as English sentences have verbs, so do
mathematical sentences.
Example: 3 + 4 = 7 which can be translated as “three
plus four equals seven”
Indeed, the equal sign ‘=‘ is one of the most
popular mathematical verbs
Truth of Sentences
Sentences can be true or false. The notion truth
(i.e., the property of being true or false) is
fundamental importance in mathematical language.
Mathematical Expression
An expression is the mathematical analogue of
an English noun; it is a correct arrangement of
mathematical symbols used to represent a
mathematical object of interest
An expression does not state a complete thought;
in particular, it does not make sense to ask if an
expression is true or false.
Types of mathematical expressions
NUMBERS SETS FUNCTIONS
ORDERED PAIRS MATRICES VECTORS

Three most common types of expressions are

numbers, sets and functions. (These are like people,
places, and things in English)
 Common problem involving
mathematical expressions
“Simplifying”
- To simplify an expression means to get a different
name for the expression, that in some way is “simpler”
Simpler means FEWER SYMBOLS, FEWER
OPERATIONS, BETTER SUITED FOR CURRENT
USE, PREFERRED STYLE/FORMAT
 Common problem involving
mathematical expressions
FEWER SYMBOLS

Example:
Instead of “2+4+1” we write “7” cause it’s fewer
symbols
Or instead of “3+3+3+3+3+3” we write “18” and etc.
 Common problem involving
mathematical expressions
FEWER OPERATIONS

Example:
Instead of “4+4+4+4+4” we use“4x5”
Or instead of 5+5+5+5+5+5-5, we us “6x5-5”
 Common problem involving
mathematical expressions
BETTER SUITED FOR CURRENT USE

Example:
Sometimes is convenient to use ½ rather than 0.5 (e.g
½(2x-4y+10))
 Common problem involving
mathematical expressions
PREFFERED STYLE/FORMAT

Example:
Both 2/4 and ½ are names for the same number but
usually ½ is the preferred format
Or sometimes instead of “8 + x”, we write “x + 8”
Or sometimes “–x+8”, we write “8 – x”
Mathematical Sentence
Mathematical sentence is the analogue of an
English sentence; it is correct arrangement of
mathematical symbols that states a complete
thought. It makes sense to ask about the TRUTH of a
sentence: Is it true? Is it false? Is it sometimes
true/sometimes false
Sentences have verbs and connectives
The sentence “1+2 = 3” is read as “one plus two
is equal to three”
verb
expression expression

connectives sentence
 Sentences have verbs and connectives
A connective is used to “connect” objects of a given
type to get a “compound” object of the same type. In the
given example, the numbers 1 and 2 are “connected” to
give the new number 1+2.
A familiar English connective for nouns is the word
“and”: ‘cat’ is a noun, ‘dog’ is a noun, ‘cat and dog’ is a
compound noun
How to decide whether something is a
sentence
Read it aloud and ask yourself the question: Does it
state a complete thought? If the answer is ‘yes’, then it
is a sentence

Alternately, you can ask yourself the question: Does it

make sense to ask about the truth of this object?
Example
1. Three is one plus two
2. Thirty-two added by one
3. She is beautiful
4. He walks
5. When the window is raised.
6. 6+3
7. 5(x-4)
8. She painted the wall
9. Xi is the current president of China
10. Duterte is an excellent leader
 “One should NOT aim at being possible
to understand but at being IMPOSSIBLE
to misunderstand.”
-Quintilian, circa 100AD