MODULE TWO

MATHEMATICS AS A LANGUAGE
Module 2 is focused on mathematical language. It is explained that mathematics,
like any other language, has its own symbols, syntax, and rules. The conventions and
usefulness of mathematics as a language are explained.

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 MABINI COLLEGES, INC.
DAET, CAMARINES NORTE
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

MODULE 2 : Mathematics as a Language

TOPIC 1 : The Language and Symbols of Mathematics

MODULE OVERVIEW

In writing and speaking the language of mathematics, it is important that you know some basic
mathematical terms because you will most likely encounter mathematical sentences with complicated
structures. One very important element for a learner to succeed in mathematics is the ability to
communicate effectively in mathematics. Thus, familiarization with the mathematical language and
symbols is important. Language is very powerful. It is used to express our emotions, thought, and ideas.
However, if the recipient of the message cannot understand you, then there is no communication at all.
It is very important that both of you understand the language. Mathematics is very hard for others to
study because they are very overwhelmed with the numbers, operations, symbols, and formulae. On
the other hand, if one knows how to interpret and understand these things, then the subject will be
comprehensible. Why do we use variables? Why mathematical sentence is very important?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this module, you can:

1. Classify the characteristics of mathematical language.
2. Differentiate expressions from sentences.
3. Identify conventions in the mathematical language.

LECTURE NOTES

Discussions
Characteristics of Mathematical Language

Language is a system of communication used by a particular community that can be either

spoken or written. It is a means of conveying information and meaning. And the system used to
communicate mathematical ideas is called mathematical language.

In order to make the language of mathematics easy to express the thoughts that mathematicians
wish to express, the following features of the language are considered:

• precise (able to make very fine distinctions)

• concise (able to state things briefly)
• powerful (able to convey complex ideas with relative ease)

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 Vocabulary vs Sentences

Every language has its vocabulary (the words) and its rules for combining those words into
complete thoughts (the sentences). Mathematics is no exception. As a first step in discussing
mathematical language, we will make a very rough distinction between the "nouns" of mathematics
(used to denote mathematical objects of interest) and the "sentences" of mathematics (expressing
complete mathematical thoughts).

You need to learn the Mathematics Vocabulary!

• Students need to learn how to use the language of math correctly, when and where to use it,
and how to figure out the wrong uses.
• Students need to show the relationships or connections of math language with natural language.
• Students need to look back or study the history of mathematics to better understand why
mathematics is important in their daily lives.

The importance of mathematical language:

• Contributes significantly to the overall understanding

• Crucial to the development of mathematics skills
• Enables both teacher and students to communicate mathematical knowledge accurately

Comparison of Natural Language into Mathematical Language

The following table illustrates the comparison between a natural language (expression or
sentence) and a mathematical language.

ENGLISH MATHEMATICS
English Noun: refers to a name of place, person, Mathematical Expression: A group of numbers
or things or variables with or without operation
Example: Example:

Leonardo 2
Daet 3–2
book 3x
He 3x + 2
ax + by + c

English Sentence: a group of words that are put Mathematical Equation/Sentence: a group of
together to mean something. It conveys a numbers or variables with or without
complete thought. mathematical operation separated by an equal
sign.

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 Example: Example:

Leonardo is a boy 3+2=5

Daet is the capital city of Camarines Norte a+b=c
Rene loves to read a book ax + by + c = 0
Run! (x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2
Do you enjoy learning the subject mathematics?

Expressions vs Sentence

Ideas to sentences:
Ideas about sentences are explored. Just as English sentences have verbs, so mathematical
sentences have verbs. In the mathematical sentence;

3+4=7

the verb is =. If you read the sentence as "three plus four is equal to seven", you can easily pick out the
verb. In fact, the equal sign = is one of the most popular mathematical verbs.

Example:
1. The capital of the Philippines is Manila.
2. Rizal Park is located in Cebu.
3. 5 + 3 = 8 4. 5 + 3 = 9
Connectives

A frequently asked question when presenting the sentence example 1 + 2 = 3 is;

If “=” is the verb, then what is “+” ?

The answer is that the symbol “+” is what is known as a connective, which is used to connect
objects of a certain type together to make a "compound" object of the same type. Here, the numbers 1
and 2 are connected to get the new number 1 + 2. In English, this is the connector "and". Cat is a noun,
dog is a noun, cat and dog is a "compound" noun.

Mathematical Sentence

Mathematical sentence is the analogue of an English sentence. It is a correct arrangement of

mathematical symbols that reflects a complete thought. It is useful to find out about the TRUTH VALUE
of a sentence. Is it true? Is it false? Is it sometimes true/sometimes false?

Example:
1. The capital of the Philippines is Manila. 3. 5 + 3 = 8
2. Rizal Park is located in Cebu. 4. 5 + 3 = 9
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 Expression

An expression is the mathematical analogue of an English noun; it is a proper

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 whether an expression is true or false.

Conventions in Languages

Languages have conventions. In English, for example, it is conventional to capitalize names

(like Israel and Manila). This convention makes it easy for readers to distinguish between a
common noun (carol means Christmas carol) and a proper noun (Carol, meaning a person's
name). In mathematics, there are also conventions that help readers distinguish between different
types of mathematical expressions.

Conventions in Mathematical Language

A mathematical convention is a fact, name, notation, or usage on which mathematicians

generally agree.

Mathematical symbols are very important in mathematical works. Instead of words, they are
used to describe the conventions used by mathematicians, even engineers and scientists. Here
are some of the symbols commonly used in mathematics:

a) Sets and Logic

SYMBOL NAME EXAMPLE MEANING

Union of set A and
∪ Union A∪B
set B

Intersection of set A
∩ Intersection A∩B
and set B

x is an element of
∈ Element x∈A
set A

x is not an element
∉ Not an element x∉A
of set A

{ } A set of {a, b, c} A set of an element

⊂ Subset A⊂B A is a subset of B

A is not a subset of
⊄ Not a subset of A⊄B
B

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 a, b, c, …
There are still other
… Ellipses a+b+c
items to follow
+⋯

∧ Conjunction A∧B A and B

∨ Disjunction A∨B A or B

∼ Negation ∼A Not A

→ Implies (If-then statement) A→B If A, then B

↔ IFF (if and only if) A↔B A if and only if B

∀ For all ∀x For all x

∃ There exist ∃ There exists x

∴ Therefore ∴C Therefore C

| Such that x|y x such that y

∎ End of proof

A is equivalent to B
A≡B
≡ Congruence/Equivalent
a is congruent to b
a ≡ b mod n
modulo n
Variables

a, b, c, … z* First part of English alphabet uses as fixed

variables
(axn )p (5x2 )6
(lower case) * Middle part of English alphabet uses as
subscript and superscript variable
* Last part of an English alphabet uses as
unknown variable

b) Basic Operations and Relational Symbols

SYMBOL NAME EXAMPLE MEANING

𝑎 plus 𝑏
+ Addition; plus sign 3+2 𝑎 added 𝑏
𝑎 increased by 𝑏

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 𝑎 subtracted by 𝑏
− Subtraction; minus sign 3–2 𝑎 minus 𝑏
𝑎 diminished by 𝑏

Multiplication sign
3∙4
∙ 𝑎 multiply by 𝑏
* We do not use “x” as a symbol for
( ) 𝑎 times 𝑏
multiplication in our discussion since it’s used (3)(4)
as a variable
10 ÷ 5
÷ 𝑜𝑟 / Division sign; divides 𝑎 divided by 𝑏
10/5
∘ Composition of function (𝑓 ∘ 𝑔)(𝑥) 𝑓 of 𝑔 of 𝑥
5=5 𝑎 = 𝑎
= Equal sign
3+2 = 2+3 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝑏 + 𝑎
≠ Not equal to 3≠2 𝑎≠𝑏
> Greater than 10 > 5 𝑎>𝑏
< Less than 5 < 10 𝑏<𝑎
≥ Greater than or equal to 10 ≥ 5 𝑎≥𝑏
≤ Less than or equal to 5 ≤ 10 𝑏≤𝑎
∗ Binary operation a ∗ b = a + 17b 𝑎∗𝑏

c) Set of Numbers

SYMBOL NAME EXAMPLE MEANING

Natural numbers / whole

ℕ0 0 ∈ ℕ0 ℕ0 = {0,1,2,3, … }
numbers set (with zero)

Natural numbers / whole

ℕ1 6 ∈ ℕ1 ℕ1 = {1,2,3,4, … }
numbers set (without zero)

ℤ Integer numbers set −6 ∈ ℤ ℤ = {… , −3, −2, −1,0,1,2,3, … }

2 𝑎
ℚ Rational numbers set ∈ℚ ℚ = {𝑥 |𝑥 = , 𝑏 ∈ ℤ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏 ≠ 0}
6 𝑏

ℝ Real numbers set 6.343434 ∈ ℝ ℝ = {𝑥 | − ∞ < x < ∞}

ℂ = {𝑧|𝑧 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑖, − ∞ < a < ∞, −∞

ℂ Complex numbers set 6 + 2𝑖 ∈ ℂ
<b<∞

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 There are many other conventions in mathematics, but only the conventions about translating
expressions, sentences, sets, relations, and functions are the focus of discussion here.
Translating words into Symbols
Practical problems are rarely, if ever, in the form of equations. The task of the problem solver
is to translate the problem from propositions and statements into mathematical expressions and
equations, and then to solve the equations.

As problem solvers, our work becomes easier when we are able to translate verbal
expressions into mathematical expressions and when we take a step-by-step approach to solving
applied problems. To help us translate words into symbols, we can use the dictionary of
mathematics.
Examples:
Let 𝑥 be a number. Translate each phrase or sentence into a mathematical expression or
equation.
1. Twelve more than a number.
Ans.: 12 + 𝑥
2. Eight minus a number.
Ans.: 8 − 𝑥

3. An unknown quantity less fourteen.

Ans.: 𝑥 − 1
4. Six times a number is fifty-four.
Ans.: 6𝑥 = 54
5. Two ninths of a number is eleven.
2
Ans.: 9 𝑥 = 11

6. Three more than seven times a number is nine more than five times the number.
Ans.: 3 + 7𝑥 = 9 + 5𝑥
7. Twice a number less eight is equal to one more than three times the number.
Ans.: 2𝑥 − 8 = 3𝑥 + 1 or 2𝑥 − 8 = 1 + 3𝑥

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