Writing Expressions

To write an expression, we often have to interpret a written phrase. For example, the phrase “ 6 added to some number” can be written as the expression x + 6, where the variable x represents the unknown number.

Some examples of common phrases and corresponding expressions that involve addition are:

Phrase	Expression
4 more than some number	x + 4
a number increased by 10	y + 10
8 plus some number	t + 8
the sum of a number and 12	w + 12

Some examples of common phrases and corresponding expressions that involve subtraction are:

Phrase	Expression
4 less than some number	x – 4
a number decreased by 10	y – 10
8 minus some number	8 – t
the difference between a number and 12	w – 12

Some examples of common phrases and corresponding expressions that involve multiplication are:

Phrase	Expression
4 times some number	4x
twice a number	2y
one-third of some number
the product of a number and 12	12w

Some examples of common phrases and corresponding expressions that involve division are:

Phrase	Expression
the quotient of 4 and some number	4x
a number divided by 2
the ratio of 8 and some number
the quotient of a number and 12

Some examples of common phrases and corresponding expressions that involve two operations are:

Phrase	Expression
6 more than 5 times a number	5x + 6
4 times the sum of a number and 7	4(y + 7)
5 less than the product of 3 and a number	3w – 5
twice the difference between a number and 9	2(z – 9)

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