Try to break the expression down into terms and operations, then break those terms into factors.
Example Solution: The product of 3 and a number t decreased by 4.
Practice makes perfect
Our approach to representing the given algebraic expression verbally will be to break it down into terms and operations.
3t - 4In this expression, second term is being subtracted from first term. Let's break it down into more digestible pieces.
Algebraic Term
Verbal Translation
t
a number t
3t ⇔ 3* t
the product of 3 and t
-
decreased by
Now that we have translated each of the pieces, let's bring it all together. The number 4 is subtracted from the result of this multiplication, thus it should be the second term in the ... decreased by ... expression.
& 3t - 4
& the product of3and a number t
& deacreased by 4
Note that this is only one of many ways to write this expression.
