Grade 6 Expressions: Writing Expressions

Translate words to expressions

What You'll Learn

Identify operation words
Write algebraic expressions

📖Writing

Operation words tell you what to do: sum and more than mean add, difference and less than mean subtract, product and times mean multiply, quotient means divide. "5 less than twice n" is 2n − 5. Write the expression, then substitute the value of n to find what it equals.

Worked examples

Real problems from the practice worksheets, solved one step at a time.

Example 1
Which expression matches "8 less than n"? Choose one: n − 8 · 8n · n + 8 · 8 − n.
1. Find the operation words: "less than" means subtract.
2. "Less than" flips the order: start with the other amount, then take the number away — so the number comes after the minus sign.
3. "8 less than n" is n − 8. The other choices (8n, n + 8, 8 − n) say something different.
4. So the matching expression is n − 8.
Answer: n − 8
Example 2
Which expression matches "n divided by 2"? Choose one: n ÷ 2 · n − 2 · 2 ÷ n · 2n.
1. Find the operation words: "divided by" means divide.
2. "n divided by 2" is n ÷ 2. The other choices (n − 2, 2 ÷ n, 2n) say something different.
3. So the matching expression is n ÷ 2.
Answer: n ÷ 2
Example 3
Which expression matches "the sum of n and 10"? Choose one: n − 10 · 10n · 10 − n · n + 10.
1. Find the operation words: "sum" means add.
2. "the sum of n and 10" is n + 10. The other choices (n − 10, 10n, 10 − n) say something different.
3. So the matching expression is n + 10.
Answer: n + 10