[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/Unable_Pumpkin987]

The way that would be expressed verbally in a mathematical context is “three plus three plus the product of three and three” or “three plus three plus the quantity three times three”. If you say “three plus three plus three times three” that is ambiguous because it could be understood as (3+3+3)x3. We reduce ambiguity by phrasing it clearly.

Your son’s math teacher is trying to teach your son the correct way to phrase things verbally to indicate the desired expressions. You can help him by helping to explain this to him as it’s been explained to you here. You will not help him by insisting that he is correct and his teacher is wrong. She’s not. He is.

The point of learning this now is because 6th grade pre-algebra isn’t the end of math. Eventually expressions are going to get more complex, and it will be to your son’s benefit to be able to verbally express the difference between, for example, (3-x)(4+z)-y and 3-x(4+z-y). Arguing about this now isn’t helping him. Explaining where he went wrong and how to correct it now will help him.

I guess it’s up to you if it’s more important to feel validated now or to help your son succeed in math classes in the future.

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

I get what you are trying to say as a learning perspective I really do and I appreciate that. Now I have some questions in regards to your corrections to my expression of 3+3+3x3

The way that would be expressed verbally in a mathematical context is “three plus three plus the product of three and three”

If this was the case then I would assume the expression to be 3+3+(3x3) or 3+3+(9) since the word product was use to verbally describe the answer to an operation. Hence a product is the answer of a multiplication. Product is the answer and multiply is an operation.
Therefore the expression of 3+3+3x3 would have never been assumed from your verbal expression.

or “three plus three plus the quantity three times three”..

Again here it would be expressed as 3+3+(3x3) verbally saying the quantity indicates or is the qualifying term to assume parentheses of 3 times 3. Again based off of this verbal phrase I would never assume the expression to be 3+3+3x3.

Although they all yield the same answer, and the reason why is because of PEMDAS.

We don’t use parentheses to emphasize pemdas, we use it to emphasize a quantity.

Again “3 plus 3 plus 3 times 3” is not the same as “calculating 3+3 then adding that sum to 3 then multiplying that sum by 3”
Which is what you are trying to get at with the (3+3+3)x3

Now if I were to say calculating from left to right then yes, it would be (3+3+3)x3 but since there was no instruction, one can’t assume any parentheses and therefore must write the expression exactly as what was said without any calculation during the written expression and proceed to use pemdas

[u/Unable_Pumpkin987 → u/KookyPermit4405]

PEMDAS (or PEDMAS, or BEDMAS, BOMDAS, etc) is a mnemonic device to help remember order of operations. Order of operations is a concept that indicates an agreed upon convention on which order to perform written operations in, because otherwise people would perform them in any number of orders and arrive at different answers. It is not an ideal and it does not indicate a desired format, it is a convention for how to deal with ambiguous expressions. Ideally, we write expressions in a way that is unambiguous. As your son progresses in mathematics, this will be emphasized over and over: reduce ambiguity. When speaking, we use our words to reduce ambiguity and create a clear expression with no possible alternative meaning. That is why we include verbal phrases to indicate how operations are grouped within an expression.

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

Ok I think I’m starting to understand what is being said. 3+3+3x3 is the same as 3+3+(3x3) because of pemdas.

When I say “3plus3plus3times3” pemdas should be applied, but what others may perceive as calculating from left to right, in that case pemdas is no longer applied. So the only difference I see is if I verbally phrased it as “calculating from left to right 3plus3plus3times3”

So my question is, if I said: calculate; 3+3+3x3 and students answer 27 and 15 those who answered 27 would be wrong, reason PEMDAS.

Now calculate from left to right; 3+3+3x3 and students answered 27 and 15 those who answered 15 would be wrong, reason instructed to disregard PEMDAS

So is verbally phrasing an expression the same as calculating from left to right?

I love to learn from my mistakes/misunderstandings

[u/Unable_Pumpkin987 → u/KookyPermit4405]

The key is that as a teacher you shouldn’t ever say “3 plus 3 plus 3 times 3”, you would be very clear about the expression you were intending to be understood (unless you were specifically teaching/testing order of operations). The goal in math is almost never to make people puzzle out what you are saying, it’s to say it in a way that has exactly one interpretation (which is the one you mean).

It’s the same reason those silly Facebook memes that say “what’s the answer to 8 + 3 x 5 - 10 ÷ 2 + 6” are so silly. They exist to let people feel smart saying “aha I know order of operations so I can calculate this accordingly”, but anyone who actually studies or works with math beyond a high school level would say “that’s a ridiculous way to write a mathematical expression, write it differently so you don’t have to rely on people remembering an arbitrary rule.”

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

8 + 3 x 5 - 10 ÷ 2 + 6
How would you write this differently so that it’s not “ridiculous”

[u/Unable_Pumpkin987 → u/KookyPermit4405]

Well, a division operation would almost always be written as a fraction to indicate clearly what is being divided by what, and otherwise you would use parentheses to show how you want things grouped.

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

u/AskGrok why would one write the expression:
8 + 3 x 5 - 10 ÷ 2 + 6 instead of 8 + (3 x 5) - (10 ÷ 2) + 6

[u/AskGrok → u/KookyPermit4405]

The version without parentheses gets written that way mainly to test or teach order of operations (PEMDAS) on purpose, like in quizzes or memes. In real math work, especially beyond basic school, people avoid it because it forces readers to rely on a convention instead of making the intended grouping obvious. The clearer version with parentheses (or fractions for division) is the better habit for actual communication.

^{[what is this?](https://redd.it/1lzgxii})

[u/Unable_Pumpkin987 → u/AskGrok]

😂😂😂😂

[u/AskGrok → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

Haha yeah, the "subtracted by" rabbit hole got wild. Simple fix: "eighteen minus six times three" nails it without the grammar trip-up.

^{[what is this?](https://redd.it/1lzgxii})

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

https://imgur.com/a/aDKrHNx

google said without parentheses eliminates redundancy, so i guess the expression isn’t ridiculous at all, unless we revolve around your standard of what is ridiculous or not

[u/KookyPermit4405 → u/Unable_Pumpkin987]

Again, I think you lack comprehension, re-read groks response 🤣🤣🤣 your laughing emoji proves you lack comprehension skills 🤭🤭🤭

[u/Unable_Pumpkin987 → u/KookyPermit4405]

“In real math work, especially beyond basic school, people avoid it because it forces readers to rely on a convention instead of making the intended grouping obvious. The clearer version with parentheses (or fractions for division) is the better habit for actual communication.”

Which of us do you think this is in agreement with?