MODULE 2

Mathematical Language and Symbols

Introduction
The nature of mathematics has become clear to us when we learned
in the first part how mathematics is used to understand nature and our
surroundings and how we use mathematics in our daily lives.

Another aspect of mathematics that needs to be studied is that it has

its own language which makes possible many different processes in
different fields of learning.

This module will discuss the characteristics of the mathematics

language, the conventions, basic concepts, and applications. Different
symbols are introduced as characteristics and concepts are discussed.

Learning Outcome
1. Discuss the language, symbols, and conventions of mathematics (K)
2. Explain the nature of mathematics as a language (K)
3. Perform operations on mathematical expressions correctly (S)
4. Acknowledge that mathematics is a useful language (V)

What You Need to Know

Mathematics is a language that is understood throughout the world.

It is effective in terms of expressing ideas and in communicating ideas to
others without the burden of translating such to different languages.

Characteristics of the Language of Mathematics

Mathematics as a language is precise, concise, and powerful.

It is precise in the sense that it is able to make very fine

distinctions based on definitions. We know that a square is different
from a circle because they were defined differently. Visual
representations also tell us that two mathematical objects are different.
We all know that a square has a different visual representation with a
circle. Do you know the difference between a square and a rectangle? Are
all squares’ rectangles or are all rectangles’ squares?

The language of mathematics is concise. It is able to say things

briefly because it has in it different symbols. For example, the sentence
“Two plus three is equal to five” may be expressed concisely as 2+3=5.
 Lastly, this language is powerful. It is able to express complex
thoughts with relative ease.

The language of mathematics can be learned but it requires an effort

similar to learning a foreign language.

The English Language and The Mathematical Language

There are certain similarities between the English language and

mathematical language. A noun in the English language corresponds to a
mathematical expression while a sentence in the English language
corresponds to a mathematical sentence.

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.
A mathematical expression is a correct arrangement of mathematical
symbols to represent the object of interest, does not contain a complete
thought, and does not possess a truth value (one will not know if it is true
or false).
The mathematical analogue of a sentence is also called a sentence. A
mathematical sentence must state a complete thought. The table below
shows the analogy.
ENGLISH MATHEMATICS
Name given to NOUN (person, place, thing) EXPRESSION
an object of
interest: Examples: Mario, Isabela, book 1
Examples: 2 , 3+5 ,
3
A complete SENTENCE SENTENCE
thought: Examples: Examples:
The capital of the province
Isabela is Ilagan City. 3+5=8

Frequently, we need to work with numbers which are most common

types of mathematical expressions. Even a single number can have
numerous names. For example, the expressions
6 4+2 12÷ 2 ( 4−1 ) +3 1+1+1+1+1+1
all look different, but are all just different names for the same number.
Just like English sentences, mathematical sentences also have verbs.
In the mathematical sentence ‘4 +2=6’, the verb is ‘¿’. If you read the
sentence as ‘four plus two equals six’, then it is easy to identify the verb.
The equal sign is one of the most popular mathematical verbs.
Exercise 1

Directions. If possible, classify the entries in the list below as:

 an English noun (EN), or a mathematical expression

(ME)
 an English sentence (ES), or a mathematical sentence
(MS)

Write your answer in the blanks before looking at the solutions. In

each sentence (English or mathematical), circle the verb.

Examples

2 x+5 y ME
Three is a crowd. ES

Start Here:

1. cat
2. 2
3. The word ‘chat’ begins with the letter ‘t’.
4. 5+2=7
5. 7−3
6. 5−3=2
7. The cat is white.
8. x
9. x=1
10. x−1=0
11. t+ 3
12. t+ 3=3+t
13. This sentence is false.
14. x +0=x
15. 1 · x=x

Conventions in the Mathematical Language

Just like any language, the mathematical language uses conventions.

In the English language, the use of capital letters for proper nouns is
conventional. Thus, our place Isabela is written with the first letter
capitalized. This convention helps us distinguish between common nouns
and proper nouns. In mathematics, there are different conventions for us
to distinguish between different types of mathematical objects.
Note that sentences state a complete thought, but nouns and
expressions do not. For example, read aloud: 7 . What about 7 ? Now read
aloud: 9−2=7 . This states a complete thought about the number 7 .
 Sentences can also be true or false. The notion of truth, the property
of being true or false, is of fundamental importance in mathematics.
Mathematical sentences are declarative in nature and we can
determine whether they are true or false.
Here's an example: "I went to the store and bought some milk." This
sentence has a subject (I) and a verb (went, bought), makes a statement,
and ends with a period. Therefore, it is a declarative sentence.
We have mentioned earlier that the mathematical language is
precise. In order to communicate effectively, we must agree on the
meanings of certain words and phrases because confusion may result
from ambiguities.
There is much less ambiguity allowed in mathematics than in English.
Ambiguity is avoided because mathematics has in it the use of definitions.
By defining words and phrases, it is assured that everyone agrees on their
meaning. Here is our first definition:

DEFINITION (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.

Most mathematics books do not define expression. It must be clear

that expressions and sentences are totally different. They do not overlap.
If something is an expression, then it is not a sentence. If something is a
sentence, then it is not an expression.
There are many types of expressions in mathematics. Some of these
are numbers, sets, functions, ordered pairs, matrices, vectors. Most
common types are numbers, sets, and functions.
In mathematics, some expressions can have many different names.
The name depends on what we are doing with the expression. An
example is the number 1 which goes with the following names:

1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1
+ 2−1 + + + +
2 2 3 3 3 3 2 4 4

1 1
` The name + , for example, is appropriate if we need to divide a
2 2
1 1 1
chocolate bar evenly for two kids. The name + + is appropriate if we
3 3 3
only have a one-third cup measure but needs 1 cup of sugar. Do you know
1 1 1
when it is appropriate to name 1 as + + ?
2 4 4
The most common problem involving expressions in mathematics is
simplification. To simplify an expression means to give another name for
the expression in a way that is simpler. When is an expression simpler?
The notion of ‘simpler’ can have different meanings:
An expression is simpler if Example
 it has fewer symbols Both expressions 2+3+ 4 and 9 are names
for the same number but 9 uses fewer
symbols.
 it has fewer operations Both expressions 3+3+3+ 3+3 and 5 ∙3 are
names for the same number but the latter
has fewer operations.
 it is better suited for current use 1 foot
The name is a great name for the
12inches
number 1 if we need to convert units of
inches to units of feet.
 it follows the preferred style or 2 1
format The expressions and are both names for
4 2
1
the same number. People usually prefer
2
because it is in the ‘reduced form’ or
‘simplest form’.

We now move to defining precisely what a mathematical sentence

means. The definition follows:

DEFINITION (mathematical sentence)

A mathematical sentence is the analogue of an English sentence; it is a 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?

The sentence ‘ 1+2=3 ’ is read as ‘one plus two equals three’. A

complete thought is being stated, which in this case is true.
A question commonly encountered, when presenting the sentence
example ‘ 1+2=3 ’, is the following: If ‘ ¿ ’ is the verb, then what is the ‘ +¿
’ ? The symbol ‘ +¿ ’ is a connective; a connective is used to ‘connect’
objects of a given type to get a ‘compound’ object of the same type. Here,
the numbers 1 and 2 are ‘connected’ to give the new number 1+2.
There are two primary ways to decide whether something is a
sentence, or not:
 • Read it aloud, and ask yourself the question: Does it state a
complete thought? If the answer is ‘yes’, then it is a sentence.
Notice that expressions do not state a complete thought.
Consider, for example, the number ‘ 1+2 ’ . Say it aloud: ‘one plus
two’. Have you stated a complete thought? NO! But, if you say: ‘
1+2=4 ’ , then you have stated a complete thought.

• Alternately, you can ask yourself the question: Does it make

sense to ask about the TRUTH of this object? Consider again the
number ‘ 1+2 ’ . Is ‘ 1+2 ’ true? Is ‘ 1+2 ’ false? These questions do
not make sense, because it does not make sense to ask about the
truth of an expression.
Here are some more examples of mathematical sentences and their
truth values.

Mathematical sentence True, False, Sometime true/sometimes false

2
x + 2 x=x ( x+ 2 ) True
x +2< x−3 False
f ( 2 )=3 Sometimes true/sometimes false

The first sentence, x 2+ 2 x=x ( x+ 2 ), is true for all real numbers following
the distributive axiom. The second sentence, x +2< x−3, is false for all real
numbers. No real number will make the sentence true. The last
sentence, f ( 2 )=3, is true if we define f ( x )=x +1 so that f ( 2 )=2+1=3 .
However, if we define f ( x )=3 x then f ( 2 )=6 ≠ 3 which makes the given
sentence false. Thus, this sentence is sometimes true/sometimes false.

Exercise 3

Directions. Classify the truth of each sentence: always true (T);

always false (F); or sometimes true/sometimes false (ST/SF).

Examples

1+2=3 T
ST/SF; The
sentence is
x +5=2 true if x=−3 .
Otherwise, it
is false.
Start Here:

1. x ÷ 3=2
2. 3+5+ 4=2+7+3
3. x−1=3
4. 5−1=5
5. 5−1≤ 5
 6. 5−1< 5
7. 1+2+ x=x +1+2
8. 5 x+ 2 y =7
9. 3−5=4
10. 3 ×7+ 3÷ 3=8

Grammar of the Mathematical Language

Grammar is the set of structural rules governing the use of symbols

representing mathematical objects.

Observe that in mathematics, we follow rules in translating from

English language to the mathematical language. Like any translation, this
one is not without problems.

There are certain difficulties in the mathematical language. Here are

some.

1. The word “is” could mean equality, inequality, or membership in a

set depending on how they are used in a sentence.

Consider the sentences below:

1. 5 is the square root of 25.

2. 5 is less than 10.
3. 5 is a prime number.

In the first of these sentences, is could be replaced by equals: it

says that two objects, 5 and the square root of 25, are in fact one
and the same object. This is similar in use to the English sentence
Ilagan City is the capital of Isabela.

In the second sentence, is plays a completely different role. The

words less than 10 form an adjectival phrase, specifying a property
that numbers may or may not have. This is similar in use to the
English sentence Grass is green.

As for the third sentence, the word is there means is an

example of, as it does in the English sentence Isabela is a province.
This could also be a membership property meaning Isabela belongs
to the set of provinces.
 These differences are reflected in the fact that the sentences do
not resemble each other when they are written in a more symbolic
way. Thus, we give the corresponding sentences in symbols below.

Sentence Sentence in symbol

5 is the square root of 5=√ 25
25
5 is less than 10 5<10
5 is a prime number
5 ϵ P where P is the set of all
prime numbers

The third sentence used the symbol ϵ which indicates

membership to a set(The concept of sets will be discussed in detail
in the succeeding topics). The sentence would normally not be
written symbolically because the concept of a prime number is not
quite basic enough to have universally recognized symbols
associated with it. However, it is sometimes useful to do so which
means we need to invent a suitable symbol. In this case, we may
use the letter P to denote the set of all primes.

Exercise 4

Directions. Classify the use of “is” in each of the following

mathematical sentences: equality (E), inequality (I), membership
(M)
Examples

2 isthe √ 8. E
3

2 x is less tha∨equal ¿ 5 I
3 is an integer . M
Start Here:

1. x divided by 3 is2.
2. 5 minus 1 is not equal ¿ 5.
3. 1 plus 2 plus x is equal ¿ x plus 1 plus 2
4. 5 is a natural number .
5. 2 is∈the set of all even integers .
6. 5 minus 1 isless than 5.
7. 4 is a multiple of 2.
2
8. is a rational number .
5
9. 3 plus5 is less than 10.
10. 3×7 plus 3 divided by 3 is 22.

2. A number in a sentence may be of cardinal, ordinal, or nominal type.

Numbers in mathematics are treated differently based on how

we use them. Here are some examples:
 I saw the road sign AH26 when I travelled from Manila to Isabela.
Jonathan is number 26 in the Mathematics class.
I gained 26 points from my recent purchase.

All three sentences used the number 26 in different contexts.

Can you tell the difference?

The first sentence talks about a road sign AH26 (Pan-Philippine

Highway) which means Asian Highway 26 of the Asian Highway
Network. In this case, the number 26 was used to describe and
distinguish the highway from other Asian highways. It does not tell
that AH26 is a better highway than other Asian Highways. This
means that the number 26 in the first sentence is of nominal type.

The second sentence tells us that the number 26 is used to

identify Jonathan’s standing in the Mathematics class relative to his
classmates. In this case, an order or rank is considered and one can
compare the number 26 from the other numbers. Thus, for
example, Liza is number 13 in this class, then we can say that Liza
performs better than Jonathan. This the number 26 is of the
ordinal type.

The third sentence tells us that the number 26 is used to

describe the literal number of points gained in a recent purchase.
Here we observe the use of a unit of measure which is points. Thus,
if one gains 30 points from a recent purchase, we can say that this
value is larger than 26 points by 4 points. Thus, the number 26 in
the third sentence is of s

With the given examples, it must be clear to use that we need

to have the skill of identifying the type of number that is being used
in as sentence.

Exercise 5

Directions. Identify the type of number used in each of the

following sentences: nominal (N), ordinal (O), cardinal (C)

Examples

Chanda is the 4th child in the family. O

Gino has student number 2020-3214 N

Start Here:

1. His situation is a catch-22.

2. I have 5 pesos left in my wallet.
3. Myla has an overload of 4 teaching units.
 4. William is 2nd in line to the throne.
5. I could not tell him that my mobile number is
09021112222.
6. Cromwell is so near to being top 2 in the
Regional Statistics Quiz.
7. Sheila is on her 5th month of pregnancy.
8. Jacky sold 21 tubs of pansit Cabagan.
9. Lessons become harder once you reach 3rd
year in this program.
10. Sunday is the 1st day of the week.

3. The words “and” and “or” mean differently in mathematics from its
English use.

Let us consider the mathematical sentence

Two plus two equals four.

as a sentence of English rather than of mathematics, and try to

analyze it grammatically. The sentence contains three nouns two,
two, and four, a verb equals, and a conjunction plus. Here we
observe that the word plus resembles the word and, the standard
example of a conjunction. However, we also observe that it does not
behave in the same manner, as is shown by the sentence,

Mario and Dana love Mathematics.

The verb in this sentence, love, is plural, while the verb in the
previous sentence, equals was singular. So the word plus seems to
take two objects and produce out of them a new, single object four,
while and conjoins Mario and Dana in a looser way, leaving them as
distinct people.

We found out that the conjunction and has two very different
uses. One is to link two nouns whereas the other is to join two whole
sentences together, as in

Mario loves Mathematics and Dana loves English.

If we want our language to be absolutely clear, then it is

important to be aware of this distinction. Thus, the sentence

Two and five are prime numbers.

may be paraphrased to
 Two is a prime number and five is a prime number.

4. Mathematical objects may be represented in many ways such as

sets and functions.

Representations using sets and functions will be discussed in

detail in the succeeding topics.

Translating Expressions and Sentences

The use of symbols in mathematics is essential in stating complex
thoughts and ideas with simplicity. In this way, some of the mathematical
problems are easily analyzed and solved. This makes translation to
mathematical symbols and notations a required skill in understanding and
studying mathematics.
In translating phrases and sentences to mathematical symbols, we
follow the given steps below:
Step 1: Identify the variable/s and constant/s

Step 2: Determine the connectors.

Step 3: Perform the translation of the phrase or sentence into symbols.

An example is the sentence “Seven and a number is fifteen.”

Seven and a number is fifteen
7 + x = 15

We must be familiar with the keywords to proceed with translation.

The table below shows some key words and phrases that are used to
describe common mathematical operations. To write mathematical
expressions and sentences, we assign a variable to represent the
unknown number. Common representation of the unknown number is the
letter x . However, other letters and characters may also be used.

Operation or
Keyword/Phrase Example Translation
Connector
plus A number plus seven x +5
More than Five more than a number 5+ x
Addition The sum of The sum of a number and six x +6
¿ The total of The total of ten and a number 10+ x
Increased by A number increased by two x +2
Added to Eleven added to a number x +11
 Minus A number minus eight x−8
Less than Four less than a number x−4
Subtraction The difference
of
The difference of a number and ten x−10
¿ Less Nine less a number 9−x
Decreased by A number decreased by eight x−8
Subtracted from Six subtracted from a number x−6
Times Five times a number 5x
The product of The product of five and a number 5x
Multiplication
Twice; double Twice a number; double a number 2x
(×) Multiplied by A number multiplied by negative two −2 x
3
Of Three-fifths of a number x
5
x
The quotient of The quotient of a number and nine
9
Division
20
Divided by Twenty divided by a number
¿ x
x
The ratio of The ratio of a number and twelve
12
The square; The square of a number; a number 2
Powers
squared squared x
n
(x ) The cube of; 3
The cube of a number; a number cubed x
cubed

Equals Ten less than a number equals one. x−10=1

Is Three times a number is negative five. 3 x=−5
Equals
Eighteen is the same as twice the
Is the same as
number.
18=2 x
(¿)
Yields Twelve added to a number yields eleven. x +12=11
Nine less a number amounts to twenty-
Amounts to
five.
x−9=25

In translation problems, the words sum, total, difference, product and

quotient imply at least two parts – use parentheses when a sum or
difference is multiplied. For example, the phrase "the sum of three times a
number and five" translates to "3 x+ 5," while the phrase "three times the
sum of a number and five" translates to "3(x +5)."
Other common issues in converting English phrases and sentences to
mathematical expressions and sentences are summarized in the following
table.
 Issues Incorrect Process Correct Process
Using the wrong key word for the One half of twenty
problem 1 1 20
20 ÷ ∗20or
2 2 2

Incorrect word order with subtraction Five less than two

times a number 2x–5
5 –2 x
Not validating by translating from Twice the sum of
symbols back to words. three and a number 2(3+ x )
2 ×3+ x
Use of punctuation Three times a 3 x+ 4
number, plus four.

3(x + 4)
Redundancy 2 x=12 Twice a number is
Twice the product of twelve.
two and six is twelve

Here are more examples of translations to mathematical symbols.

Example Translation
1
One-half is a rational number. ϵQ
2
The number x is a multiple of seven.  x ϵ {7 n: n ϵ N }
 x ϵ {7 n: n ϵ Z }
 x=7 n for some n ϵ Z
 x=7 n , n ϵ Z
The element x belongs to both sets A and  x ϵ A and x ϵ B
B.  xϵ A∩B

The values of the natural number n range
{−3 ,−2 ,−1 , 0 ,1 , 2 ,3 , 4 ,5 , 6 , 7 , 8 }
from negative three to eight.
 {n ϵ N :−3≤ n ≤ 8 }
The values of the real number n range  { n ϵ R :−3 ≤ n ≤ 8 }
from negative three to eight.  [−3 , 8]
The square of a number is not more than 2
twenty. y ≤20
2
The square of a number in non-negative. x ≥0
x +8=2 y
Tina’s age in eight years is twice Gino’s where
age. x is Tina’s present age and
y is Gino’s present age

Four Basic Concepts

The four basic concepts to be discussed include sets, relations,

functions, and binary operations. It is important to be familiar with these
basic concepts and understand how they are used.
Sets

A set is a collection of objects, mostly mathematical objects such as

numbers, points in space or other sets. We denote a set using capital
letters of the English alphabet and the symbol ϵ for set membership. Thus,
if A is a set and 3is an element of this set, we may write it in symbol as
3 ϵ A which is read 3 is an element of A or 3 is∈ A .

A set may also be empty, that is, it has no elements. We call this set the
empty set or the null set. The symbols used to denote the empty set are
∅ and {} .

There are three common ways to denote a specific set.

1. Roster method. Some sets have few elements which makes it

possible to provide a list of its members. One way of denoting a set
is by the roster method where we list its elements inside curly
brackets: {2 , 3 , 5 ,7 , 11, 13 , 17 ,19 }, for example, is the set whose
elements are the eight numbers 2 , 3 ,5 , 7 , 11, 13 ,17 , and 19.

2. Use of dots. Most sets are too large and they are often infinite. A
second way to denote sets is to use three dots to imply a list that is
too long to write down: for example, the expressions { 1 , 2, 3 , … , 100}
and {2 , 4 , 6 , 8 ,… } represent the set of all positive integers up to 100
and the set of all positive even numbers, respectively. The three
dots are collectively called ellipsis.

3. Rule method. A third way is to define a set using a property or a

description. An example that shows how this is done is the
expression {x : x is prime∧x< 20 }. To read this expression, we first say,
The set of, because of the curly brackets. Next, we read the symbol
that occurs before the colon. The colon itself we read as such that.
Finally, we read what comes after the colon, which is the property
that determines the elements of the set. In this example, we say,
The set of x such that x is prime and x is less than 20, which is equal
to the set {2 , 3 , 5 ,7 , 11, 13 , 17 ,19 }.

Types of Sets
The sets are further categorized into different types, based on elements or
types of elements. These different types of sets in basic set theory are:

 Finite set: The number of elements is finite

 Infinite set: The number of elements is infinite
  Empty set: It has no elements
 Singleton set: It has one only element
 Equal set: Two sets are equal if they have same elements
 Equivalent set: Two sets are equivalent if they have same number of elements
 Power set: A set of every possible subset.
 Universal set: Any set that contains all the sets under consideration.
 Subset: When all the elements of set A belong to set B, then A is subset of B

Set Theory Symbols

There are several symbols that are adopted for common sets. They are
given in the table below:

Table 1: Symbols denoting common sets

Symbol Corresponding Set

Represents the set of all Natural numbers i.e. all the positive integers.

N
This can also be represented by Z+.

Examples: 9, 13, 906, 607, etc.

Represents the set of all integers

The symbol is derived from the German word Zahl, which means
number.
Z
Positive and negative integers are denoted by Z + and Z– respectively.

Examples: -12, 0, 23045, etc.

Represents the set of Rational numbers

The symbol is derived from the word Quotient. It is defined as the
quotient of two integers (with non-zero denominator)
Q
Positive and negative rational numbers are denoted by Q + and
Q– respectively.

Examples: 13/9. -6/7, 14/3, etc.

R Represents the Real numbers i.e. all the numbers located on the number line.
Positive and negative real numbers are denoted by R + and
 R– respectively.

Examples: 4.3, π, 4√ 3, etc.

Represents the set of Complex numbers.

C
Examples: 4 + 3i, i, etc.

Other Notations

Symbol Symbol Name

{} Set

A∪B A union B

A∩B A intersection B

A⊆B A is subset of B

A⊄B A is not subset B

A⊂B proper subset / strict subset

A⊃B proper superset / strict superset

A⊇B superset

A⊅B not superset

Ø empty set

P (C) power set

A=B Equal set

Ac Complement of A

a∈B a element of B

x∉A x not element of A