Terminology

The following is a list of words that will be encountered in word problems. They are arranged under the math symbol that they stand for. All "tricky" words (the ones with an *) are explained at the bottom of the page.

WORDS THAT MEAN:

ADDITION SUBTRACTION DIVISION MULTIPLICATION EQUAL

sum difference quotient product is

more *less than divided by *one half of are

add less times was

*perimeter subtract of were

*more than *shorter than *twice any form of

the verbs

*longer than decreased by *area "to be, have"

increased by reduced by *one third as much

*total minus *half

and *subtracted from * one fourth

plus *squared, cubed

****************************SPECIAL NOTES***************************

Perimeter : Perimeter means the distance around the outside of a polygon. To find the

perimeter, fund the sum of all the sides of the object.

Total: Total means the sum of all objects in question.

Less than, Subtracted from, more than, longer than: Whenever these words are found in a problem, the number before these words comes after the subtraction (or addition) sign and the number after these words comes before the subtraction (or addition) sign

One half, one third, etc: In translating these words, "one half of is "1/2x", one third is "1/3x"

Twice: Twice means 2 times

Area: To find the area of a rectangle you multiply the lenghth times the width. For various polygons, each has a specific formula.

Square(d), To square means to use the number as a factor 2 times, cubed means to use it

Cube(d) as a factor 3 times.