Grammar helps us communicate the meaning of a sentence.
Consider the punctuation in the following two sentences:
“Naveed,” said the teacher, “is very responsible.”
Naveed said the teacher is very responsible.
These sentences have two totally different meanings!
In math, our sentences consist of numbers and operations.
We need rules to clarify what we are being asked to calculate.
We introduce symbols to save time and space, and to add precision.
\(3+5=8\)
'The sum of three and five equals 8.'
Write the following computation using symbols. Your expression should include all needed information so that a friend can calculate the correct answer.
'The sum of three and five is multiplied by the sum of two and four.'