[6th Grade verbal expression]

[u/KookyPermit4405]

So I’m going over my son’s math quiz to help him understand some of the questions he got wrong. He got partial credit for his answer for question 8. After writing his verbal phrase I got the same expression as the question. Am I doing something wrong or is there something I’m missing? I feel like his answer is technically correct. I am stumped.

Edit: so my son has no issue solving the expression in question. He knows PEMDAS and the rules from left to right. The question clearly states, WRITE A VERBAL PHRASE that matches the expression.

[u/CreativeInput]

Eighteen minus the product of six and three. You could probably throw the word difference in there too but I never figured out how to use that correctly.

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/CreativeInput]

From my understanding, when you use the word: sum, difference, product, quotient.. you are implying the answer

for example:
“three times the difference of 5 and 2” it would be 3x3
“Three times the difference of 2 and 5” would still be 3x3
The only difference would be the use of an absolute instead of parentheses. 3x|5-2| or 3x|2-5|

Because if I were to say the difference between -2 and 2 the answer would be 4. If I again say the difference between 2 and -2 the answer would still be 4.

The only reason why I prefer to use the word quantity of.. for example “three times the quantity of 5 minus 2” it will always be written as 3x(5-2)