ALGEBRAIC

EXPRESSIONS
 ALGEBRA
It is defined as a branch of mathematics
which generalizes the facts in arithmetic. It is a
language that is different from English, for it
has a very small vocabulary. We shall begin by
learning how to translate some of the rules in
arithmetic and English words into the
language of algebra.
 The language of algebra
is composed of:
• Numerals 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
• Symbols or sign
• Variables
A. Operational
Algebraic English Word
Translation
+ Plus, the sum of, more than, increased by, total of, added to
_ Minus, subtract, less, less than, take away, difference of,
reduced by, decreased by, remainder

x, ∙ ( ) Times, multiplied by, the product of

÷ Quotient of, divided by, ratio
x2 The square of x, x squared, the second power of x, x to the
second power

√ Square root of
B. Symbols of
Relationship
SYMBOLS ENGLISH TRANSLATION
= Equals, is equal to, is
> Is greater than, is more than
< Is less than
≠ Is not equal to
≥ Is greater than or equal to
≤ Is less than or equal to
C. Symbols of
Groupings
SYMBOLS
Parenthesis ()
Brackets []
Braces {}
Bar −
 VERBAL
STATEMENTS
AND SYMBOLIC
EXPRESSIONS
 OPERATION SAMPLE PHRASE TRANSLATION
ADDITION “the total of two numbers x and y” x+y
“three added to a number” x+3
“a number plus one” x+1
“x increased by five” x+5
“four more than a number” x+4
“six greater than a number” x+6
“y exceeds x by seven” y=x+7
 OPERATION SAMPLE PHRASE TRANSLATION
“the difference between x and y” x–y
SUBTRACTION
“x subtracted from one” 1–x
“x minus one” x–1
“y decreased by four” y–4
“two less a number” 2–x
“two less than a number” x–2
“x diminished by three” x–3
 OPERATION SAMPLE PHRASE TRANSLATION
“the product of two number” xy
MULTIPLICATI
“a number multiplied by nine” 9x
“ten times a number” 10x
“five percent of a number” 0.05x
“twice a number” 2x
ON

“x is twice as many as y” x=2y

 OPERATION SAMPLE PHRASE TRANSLATION
“the quotient of x and y” 𝑥
𝑦
“a number divided by ten” 𝑥
10
“the ratio of x to y” 𝑥
DIVISION

𝑦
“x over five” 𝑥
5
“half of a number” 𝑥
2
“a third of a number” 𝑥
3