MATHEMATICAL

LANGUAGE
AND
SYMBOLS

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Imagine the following scenario?

You are in a Math class, and the

instructor passes a piece of paper to each
student. It is announced that the paper
contains Strategies in Solving Math
Problems. You are to read it and make
comments. Upon glancing the paper, you
are surprised that it is written in a foreign
language that you do not understand!

IS THE INSTRUCTOR BEING FAIR?

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Responses:
Of course not. Indeed , the instructor is probably
trying to make a point. Although the ideas in the
paragraph may be simple, there is no access to
the ideas without a knowledge of the language in
which the ideas are expressed.
This situation has a very strong analogy in
Mathematics. People frequently have trouble
understanding mathematical ideas; not
necessarily because the ideas are difficult, but
because they are being presented in a foreign
language – THE LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS!
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Language of Mathematics
Like any language, Mathematics has its own
symbols, syntax and rules.

 to understand the expressed ideas

 to communicate ideas to others

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A. Characteristics

 Precise

- be able to make very fine distinctions

 Concise

- use symbols to be able to express

more
 Powerful

- be able to express complex thoughts

with relative ease
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Noun versus Sentences

ENGLISH

Noun Sentence
(name given to object (must state a complete
of interest thought)

• Person • TRUE: The word “math” has

four letters.
• Place
• FALSE: The word “math” has 5
• Thing letters
• Sometimes True/Sometimes
False: Math is a difficult
subject.
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B. Expressions versus Sentences

MATHEMATICS

Expression Sentence
(name given to (must state a complete
mathematical object of thought)
interest
• Number
• TRUE : 1+ 2 = 3
• Set • FALSE: 1 + 2 = 4
• Matrix • ST/SF : x =1
• Ordered pair
• Average
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B. Conventions in the
Mathematical Language
Ideas Regarding Expressions

 Expressions have different names

Example:
5 2+3 10÷2 (6 - 2) + 1 1 + 1+ 1 +1+ 1
 Common in solving expressions is to SIMPLIFY
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What does SIMPLER mean?

Fewer symbols
Fewer operations
Better suited to current use
Preferred/ style/format
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Mathematical Sentence
A mathematical sentence is the
analogue of an English sentence; it is a
correct assignment of mathematical
symbols that states a complete thought.
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Ideas regarding Mathematical

sentence
Mathematical Sentences have
verbs and connectives
Truth of Sentences
The notion of truth (the
property of being true or false) is of
fundamental importance in the
mathematical language.
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How to decide whether something

is a Sentence?
 Read it aloud, and ask yourself the
question: Does it state a complete
thought? If YES, then it is a sentence.
 You may also ask yourself the
question: Does it make sense to ask
about the truth of it?
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The Grammar of Mathematics

It is the structural rules governing the use of

symbols representing mathematical
objects.
Express the following using
mathematical symbols
a. 5 is the square root of 25
b. 5 is less than 10
c. 5 is a prime number
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Some difficulties in math language

 The word "is" could mean equality,
inequality or membership in a set
 Different uses of a number; to express
quantity (cardinal), to indicate the order
(ordinal), and as a label (nominal)
 Mathematical objects may be represented
in many ways, such as sets and functions
 The words "and' & "or" means different from
its English use
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Objects that we use in Math

 Numbers (4 operations and properties)
 Variables
 Operations (unary & binary)
FOUR BASIC CONCEPTS:
 Sets (relationships, operations, properties)
 Relations (Equivalence relations)
 Functions ( injective, Surjective , Bijective)
 Binary Operations
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ACTIVITY: CONCEPT MAP

NUMBERS AND OPERATIONS
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Numbers and 4 operations

Can you think of any more terms that you

can add to the mind map?
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Variable
A variable is any letter used to
stand for a mathematical object.
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Operations (Unary or Binary)

A Unary operation is an operation on a single

element.
Example: negative of 5
multiplicative inverse of 7
 A binary operation is an operation that
combines two elements of a set to give a
single element.
e.g. multiplication 3 x 4 = 12
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Sets

Definition of a Set
Methods of naming a set
Properties
Relationships between two sets
Operation on Sets
Venn Diagram
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Solve The Problem using a Venn

Diagram
A history teacher was interested to know about her
class of 42 students who keeps up with current events. She
gathered the following data:
9 students read the newspaper,
18 students listen to the radio,
30 students watch television,
3 students both read newspaper and listen to the radio,
12, students both listen to the radio and watch
television,
6 students both read the newspaper and watch
television, and
2 students read the newspaper, listen to the radio and
watch television.
 Organize the data using the Venn Diagram.
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Mrs. Cruz asked her 30 students who among

their mother, father, or sibling will attend the
quarterly conference. Sixteen students said their
mother will attend, another 16 said their fathers
will attend, and 11 said their siblings will attend.
Five said their mothers and siblings will attend,
and of these, 3 said their fathers will also attend.
Five said only their siblings will attend and 8 said
only their fathers will attend.
How many students said only their mothers
will attend? Support your answer by illustrating
the Venn Diagram which presents the given
data.
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Relations
A relation is a correspondence between two
things or quantities. It is a set of ordered pairs
such that the set of all first coordinates of the
ordered pairs is called Domain and the set of
all the second coordinates of the ordered
pairs is called Range.
 A relation maybe expressed as a statement,
arrow diagram, table, equation, set-builder
notation and graph.
 Example: R= {(1, 2), (2, 4), (3, 6), (4, 8), (5, 10)}
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Types of Relations
1. one - to – one relation
2. one – to – many relation
3. many – to – one relation
4. amny-to-many relation

An Equivalence Relation has the following properties:

i. Reflexive : 𝑥~𝑥
ii. Symmetric : If 𝑥~𝑦 , then y~𝑥.
iii. Transitive : If 𝑥~𝑦 & y~𝑧 , then 𝑥~𝑧.

Show that R = {(1,1), (1,3), (2,2), (3,1, (3,3)) is an

equivalence relation from a set A = {1, 2, 3}.
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Relations in Language of Math

Grammatical rules for the use of symbols
 To use < in a sentence, one should precede it
by a noun and follow it by a noun.
 Other examples of relations are “equals” and
“ is an element of”
 It is important when specifying a relation to
be careful about which objects are to be
related.
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Functions
A function is a relation such that each
element of the domain is paired with exactly one
element of the range. To denote this relationship,
we use the functional notation:
y = f(x)
where f indicates that a function exists between
variables x and y.
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The notation f : A → B is used to

denote a function which means that f
is a function with domain A and range
B; f(x) = y means that f transform x
(which must be an element of A) into y
( which must be an element of B)
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Evaluating Functions
The functional notation y = f(x) allows us to
denote specific values of a function. To
evaluate a function is to substitute the specified
values of the independent variable in the
formula and simplify.
Example:
When f(x) = 2x – 3, find f(2)
Solution:
f(2) = 2(2) – 3 = 4 – 3
f(2) = 1
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Inverse of a Function
The inverse of a function is another
function that that undoes it, and that it undoes.
For example, the function that takes a
number n to n – 5 is the inverse of the function
that takes n to n + 5.

What is the inverse of y = 2x?

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Binary Operations
A binary operation on a set A is a function
that takes pairs of elements of A and produces
elements of A from them.
We use the symbol * to denote arbitrary
binary operation on a set A.
Four Properties:
1. Commutative x* y = y *x
2. Associative x* (y*z) = (x*y)* z
3. Identity e*x = x *e
4. Inverse x*y = y*x = e
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EXERCISE
A. Describe the error
1. 5 is a subset of N
2. x > 2 or x <1 is equivalent to 2<x<1
3. Given the function x +10, find the
value of f(4)
4. (𝑒 𝑥 + 𝑥)
5. 22/7 = 3.14
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Thought!
On the level of students being taught, don’t
confine them only with what they can.
As early, let them aware of the possibilities in
the higher level.
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Possible activity:
Video Watching
 Math isn't hard_ it's a language _ Randy
Palisoc _ TEDxManhattanBeach.mp4
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References:
 Jamison, R.E. (2000). Learning the
Language of Mathematics. Language
and Learning Across Disciplines, 4(1), 45-
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 The language of Mathematics (from One
Mathematical cat, Please! by Carol Burns
Fisher)
 The Language and Grammar of
Mathematics