Chapter 2: MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE AND

SYMBOLS

 Learning Objectives

At the end of this chapter, the student is expected to:

• discuss the language, symbols, and conventions used in
mathematics;
• explain the nature of mathematics as a language;
• evaluate mathematical expressions correctly; and
• recognize that mathematics is a useful language.

Introduction

Mathematics has its own language, much of which we are already familiar
with. For example, the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 are part of our everyday lives.
Whether we refer to 0 as ‘zero’, ‘nothing’, or ‘O’ as in a telephone number, we
understand its meaning. There are many symbols in mathematics and most are used as
a precise form of shorthand. We need to be confident when using these symbols, and
to gain that confidence we need to understand their meaning. To understand their
meaning there are two things to help us—context - this is the context in which we are
working, or the particular topics being studied, and convention - where
mathematicians and scientists have decided that particular symbols will have
particular meaning.

2.1 The Language of Mathematics

Can you imagine how would you be able to communicate with a seatmate in
the bus who speaks an entirely different language from yours? You may be able to tell
him or her to watch over your bag as you get off the bus for a while to buy something
through certain nonverbal gestures. That can be done with sign language. Language
facilitates communication and meaning-making. It allows people to express
themselves and maintain their identity. Likewise, language bridges the gap among
people from various cultural origins without prejudice to their background and
upbringing. If you plan to marry someone with different language and culture, you
need to know his or her language and culture to be able to live with him or her as a
spouse.
Have you seen the characters of Mandarin language? The Mandarin language
has different characters for sun, moon, stars, things like house, chair, table, furniture,
trees, plants, flowers, and relationships like grandfather, grandmother, father, mother,
sister, brother etc. These unfamiliar characters in the written Mandarin language may
make learning Mandarin more difficult than the Greek language even if Greek letters
are different from the English alphabet. Mathematics is also a language. It has its own
symbol system; the same way the English or Greek languages have their own alphabet.

Characteristics of Mathematical Language

Mathematical language is precise which means it is able to make very fine distinctions
or definitions among a set of mathematical symbols. It is concise because a
mathematician can express otherwise long expositions or sentences briefly using the
language of mathematics. The mathematical language is powerful, that is, one can
express complex thoughts with relative case. For example, consider the sentence “The
sum of any two real numbers is also a real number.” In mathematical notation, this
declarative sentence can be written as:

∀𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, 𝑎 + 𝑏 ∈ ℝ

Mathematics is a symbolic language. Some of the symbols you may encounter as you
read this book are the following:
The sum of If …, then
There exists If and only if
For all/for any Set of real numbers
Element of/member of Set of natural numbers
infinity Set of integers Subset of
Set of rational numbers
Mathematical language can describe a subset of the real world using only the symbols
above. Problems in physics like freely falling bodies, speed, and acceleration;
quantities like the chemical content of vegetables; the use of mathematical modeling
in biological disease modelling; and the formulas employed in the social sciences can
all be expressing using mathematical sentences or formulas. Mathematics describes
abstract structures as well. There are areas of Pure Mathematics which deal with
abstract algebra, linear algebra, topology, real analysis, and complex analysis.
Mathematics, therefore, is a language of Sciences, business, economics, music,
architecture, arts, and even politics. There is an intimate connection between the
language of Mathematics and the English language. The left brain hemisphere which
is responsible for controlling language is also the same part of the brain in charge of
tasks involving Mathematics. It is the left brain hemisphere that coordinates logical
and analytical thinking while the right brain hemisphere is responsible for creative
thinking.
Chinese, Greek, and English languages are the same because they communicate ideas
through symbols that feed the mind with information. More often however, a Chinese
word or symbol may mean differently in the Greek or English language resulting in
confusion. Mathematics tries to avoid this difficulty by adopting a universally
understood symbolic system for its language. Thus, the language of Mathematics can
be considered a common language of the world. Any student learning Mathematics in
all parts of the globe should be able to understand Mathematics even if he or she does
not understand English or Filipino.

EXERCISES 2.1

Name: ___________________________________________Score:
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Section: __________________________________________Date:
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Write an essay about the Language of Mathematics using the following guided
questions: (at least 150 words) o Is language of Mathematics important to you? Why
or why not? o When do you use the language of Mathematics?
o Can you live without it? Why or why not?
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2.2 Expre ssions vs. Sentences

ENGLISH

NOUN SENTENCE
( name of given to object of interest) ( must state a complete thought
)

PERSON P LACE THING ANIMAL TRUE (T) FALSE (F) SOMETIMES TRUE (ST)/
SOMETIMES FALSE (SF)

Cardo Manila gun dog The capital of Philippines The dog is

the Philippines has four major black.
is Manila. islands.

MATHEMATICS

EXPRESSION SENTENCE
( name of given to mathematical (must state a complete thought
)
object of interest)

NUMBER SET FUNCTION MATRIX ORDERED TRUE (T) FALSE (F) SOMETIMES TRUE (ST)/
PAIR SOMETIMES FALSE (SF)

2 {1 , 2} f(x) 1 4 (x,y) 2+5=7 1 + 1 = 11 3x + 5 = -2

[ ]
−2 3

A sentence must contain a complete thought. In the English language, an ordinary sentence
must contain a subject and a predicate. The subject contains a noun or a whole clause.
“Manila” for example is a proper noun but is not in itself a sentence because it does
not state a complete thought. Similarly, a mathematical sentence must state a complete
thought. An expression is a name given to a mathematical expression but not a
mathematical sentence. Types of Mathematical Sentences

A mathematical sentence is one in which a fact or complete idea expressed.

Because a mathematical sentence states a fact, many of them can be judged to be “true”
or “false”. Questions and phrases are not mathematical sentences since they cannot be
judged to be true or false.

Examples:
a. “An isosceles triangle has two congruent sides.” is a true mathematical
sentence.
b. “10 + 4 = 15” is a false mathematical sentence.
c. “Did you get that one right?” is NOT a mathematical sentence – it is a
question.
d. “All triangles” is NOT a mathematical sentence – it is a phrase.

There are two types of mathematical sentences:

 Open Sentence
An open sentence is a sentence which contains a variable. It can be either true or
false depending on what values are used.
Examples:
1. A triangle has n sides.
2. z is a positive number.
3. 3y = 4x + 2
4. a + b = c + d
 Closed Sentence
A closed sentence is a sentence which can be judged to be always true or always
false and has no variables.
Examples:
1. A square has four corners.
2. 6 is less than 5.
3. −3 is a negative number.
4. 3 + 5 = 8
5. 9 is an even number.
EXERCISE 2.2

Name: ___________________________________________Score:
____________________
Section: __________________________________________Date:
_____________________
Tell whether if each of the following sentences is an open sentence or a closed sentence
an. Write OS if a sentence is open and CS if it is closed. If CS, determine if it is true
or false. If OS, identify the expression that will make the sentence always true.
_________________________ 1. Nine is an even number.
_________________________ 2. 4x – 2 = 5
_________________________ 3. Zero is an even number.
_________________________ 4. 2 + 5 = 2x

_________________________ 5. 1⁄2 2⁄
3
_________________________ 6. n is a composite number.
_________________________ 7. 2n < 5
_________________________ 8. – 0.5 is an integer.
_________________________ 9. is a variable.
_________________________ 10. 0 is not an integer.

2.3 Translating Mathematical Sentences to English Sentences (or vice

versa)

There is no single strategy for translating Mathematical sentences into English

sentences (or vice versa). As long as you can remember the basics, you should be able
to tackle the more challenging ones. Just make sure that you can justify how you come
up with your own translation, and more importantly that it makes sense to you.
To build your skills in writing Mathematical sentences to English sentences
(or vice versa), we will go over different ways of how each operation may show up as
a word or phrase in the problem. The four arithmetic operations involved are addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division. You can use also the different mathematical
symbols as stated in a sentence.

Example 1: Write the Mathematical sentences into English sentences

a. ∀𝑥 ∈ ℝ, 𝑥2 ≥ 0
 b. ∀𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ ℝ, (𝑥 + 𝑦)2 = 𝑥2 + 2𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦2
c. ∃𝑚, 𝑛 ∈ ℤ, 𝑚 − 𝑛 ≤ 𝑚 + 𝑛
d. ∀𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℚ, 𝑎𝑏 = 0 ⇒ 𝑎 = 0 ∨ 𝑏 = 0
Solution:
a. For any real number, its square is greater than or equal to zero.
b. For any real numbers x and y, the square of their sum is equal to the sum of
their squares plus twice their product.
c. There exist integers m and n such that m minus n is less than or equal to m
plus n.
d. For any rational numbers a and b, if their product is zero, then either a or b
equals zero.

Example 2: Write the English sentences into Mathematical sentences.

a. Ten is the square root of one hundred.
b. Ten is greater than nine.
c. Ten is an even number.
d. Ten is a multiple of 5.

Solution:

a. √100 = 10
b. 10 > 9
c. 10 ∈ {2𝑛, 𝑛 ∈ ℕ}
d. 10 ∈ {5𝑛, 𝑛 ∈ ℕ}

EXERCISE 2.2

Name: ___________________________________________Score:
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Section: __________________________________________Date:
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 A. Translate each of the following English sentences into Mathematical sentences.
1. The square of the difference of x and y is not more than 10.
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positive.
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5. Six is the principal square root of 36.
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B. Translate each of the following Mathematical sentences into English sentences.

1. ∀𝑥 ∈ ℝ, ∃𝑦 ∈ ℝ, 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 10
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3. 𝑥 + 12 = 8
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4. 2(𝑥 − 3) = 12
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5. 2𝑥 − 6 = 45
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