The Language of Mathematics

Mathematics has its own rules when forming a mathematical thought. A mathematical sentence comes
also with verbs and nouns. An example of a mathematical sentence is as follows: “Two plus three equals five.” This
is written in mathematical symbols as

“2+3 = 5”

Like the parts of speech, the nouns here are 2, 3 and 5. The + (plus sign) is a conjunction, = (equals) is the
verb. So, in 2+3=5, we have a harmony of noun-verb-noun and it conveys a mathematically true statement.

Since mathematical statements are emotion-less, its truth does not depend on the feeling of the person
making the statement or the person reading the statement. Its truth depends on the basic assumptions where the
statement is based on or developed from. Thus, a mathematical statement can only be either true or false.
However, there are mathematical statements that are contingent on the value of the variable used. These
statements are sometimes true or sometimes false.

Example
1+1 = 2 (true)
1+1 = 3 (false)
1+1 = x (truth or falsity depends on the value of x)

The language used in mathematics is also non-temporal. Sentences in mathematics are all in present
terms since its truth never fades nor will ever change as long as the assumptions for such statement hold true.

Finally, terms and words used in mathematics mean what they say and there are no hidden meanings.
Every mathematical statement is precise. This is because mathematical statements are developed from a
consistent system and proven using established statements.

Symbols used in the mathematical language:

Conjunctions
+, -, *, , , , \, ,
Verbs
=, <,>, ≤ , ≥ , , , , , , , , , ,

Grouping symbols:
[ ], { }, ( ), < >

Some statistical symbols:

~
x , x , ^x ,
From symbolic logic
, , , , 

Some ambiguities in math symbols:

In calculus: “x  a means the ‘x approaches a’ ”

In logic: “ x  a means that ’x implies a’ ”
Sets of Numbers:

R = set of real numbers;

N = set of natural numbers;
 Q = set of rational numbers;
Q’ = set of irrational numbers;
Z = set of integers
C = set of complex numbers;

In the English language, there are generally four types of sentences, viz., a) declarative sentences, b)
interrogative, c) exclamatory, and d) command.

The declarative sentences are also called statements and statements are further classified into simple and
compound. Compound sentences in logic are categorized as i) conjunction (two simple sentences joined together
by ‘and’), ii) disjunction (joined by ‘or’), iii) conditional (joined by ‘if … then’) and iv) bi-conditional (joined by ‘if and
only if’)

The exciting sentences in English language are the declarative ones. Declarative sentences are interesting
because they bring good news and hope. When friends gather, everyone wants to listen what happened to the
others and everyone as well wants to share what happened to him or her. These happenings are all stated in
declarative sentences. Headlines in newspapers, TV and radio station news are also given in declarative sentences.

But in Mathematics, declarative sentences are very boring statements. They do not bring excitement
because mathematical declarative sentences are usually old facts, like 2 + 3 = 5, or √ 256=16, 7 is a prime
number. Then after uttering any of these, someone will say, “so what?”

The interesting statements in mathematics are the conditional statements or the “if … then” statements,
at least to the math enthusiasts. Verifying the “then” given the “if” fascinates them, especially if their proof is very
elegant, compact and direct. On the other hand, conditional statements in English are very boring. No newspaper
editor has ever placed a headline starting with the word “IF …”

The point in all these is that English language and Mathematical language are very contrasting. With
respect to truth, there are mathematical statements that are always true even if some part of the statement is
false. For instance, if a mathematical statement starts with something false, the truth value of the statement is
always true no matter what the conclusion is. This is not acceptable in ordinary normal conversations, but this is
okay to mathematicians. For instance, the following is a true mathematical statement:

“If a carabao can fly then Dumaguete City is not the capital of the Philippines.”
is a true statement in logic and mathematics.

There are also statements in the English language whose truth value is always true by the one speaking
but could be false to the one listening. For instance, the statement, like, “My mother is beautiful.” This may only be
true to the one saying the statement.

Mathematical verbs and nouns

English language has conventions, like words with capital letters signify proper nouns. Examples of these
are Jack, Jingle, Dumaguete City, etc. Mathematics also has conventions for verbs and nouns. Verbs in mathematics
are usually relations like equals ‘ = ‘, order relations ‘<’ and ‘>’, congruence ‘’ inverse proportion ‘’, etc. These
verb symbols relate mathematical expressions. Mathematical expressions are analogues of nouns in English. When
mathematical objects like numbers, matrices, sets, vectors, functions, etc. are properly joined together by well-
defined operations, the result is called a mathematical expression. Examples of mathematical expressions are as
follows:
 1. 2x + 3y
2. 7x3 + 3x2 - 2x +1

Mathematical sentences are usually completed when the mathematical objects referred to in the
sentence have definite relationship. The objects maybe numbers, sets, matrices, vectors, polynomials, etc.
Furthermore, the objects in a mathematical sentence may not have definite values when they are related in a
statement. For instance,

2x + 5 = 13

is a complete mathematical sentence even if x is still a variable. The nouns are 2x, 5 and 13 while equals, =, is the
relation. There is a problem with ‘+’ grammatically since it is supposed to be a conjunction and therefore 2x and 5
constitute more than one noun and hence, plural, but ‘ = ‘ signify ‘ is equal to’, singular. In this case the ‘+’ simply
linked the two nouns, thus, the result is just one.

Another ambiguity with the verb ‘is’ in the sentence “7 is a prime number.” Here ‘is’ is used not as a
relation but used like, “an example of’ or ‘an element’ of the set of prime numbers. In sets, the symbol ‘=’ has a
different meaning from ‘=’ in number relations. The symbol ‘=’ in sets refer to containment, that is, sets A and B
are equal if A can be contained in B and B can be contained in A.

For functions, two functions are equal if they have exactly the same function values and both emanate
from the same domain. In matrices, two matrices are equal if they have the same dimension and their
corresponding elements are equal, and in the calculus of propositions, equality is termed as equivalence.

These examples simply mean that a mathematics symbol may have different English meanings and hence,
translating from one language to another definitely depends on the context in which the math sentence is written
or the English language is written.

Examples
1. From the sentences below the circled symbol/word is the verb of the given sentence:
a. t+3 = 3+t
b. This sentence is false
c. x + 0 = x
d. Hat sat bat [This is not a sentence because it is nonsensical]

2. The following are mathematical expressions

a. 7
b. 3 + 4
c. t – 1
d. x + x + x
3. The following are mathematical sentences
a. 7 = 3 + 4
b. t – 2 = 0
c. 0 = 1 (Although false)
d. ∃ x , y ∈ Z , x 2 + y 2 <1

Truth of a Mathematical sentence

Stories written in the English language (or any other human language) are either facts or fiction. In
Mathematics, sentences are either true or false. The truth value of a mathematical sentence depends solely on
how it relates with axioms which the sentence was inferred from or how it relates with previous definitions and
proven theorems. The statement:
 “ If 2 parallel lines are cut by a transversal, then alternate interior angles are congruent.”

The truth of this statement depends on the postulates in plane geometry, definitions, and previously
proven theorems.

The following then are true statements:

1. x – x = 0
2. 2x + x = 3x
3. 4 + 5 = 9
4. x2 - x + 1 > 0

Logic and Mathematical Statements

Mathematical statements can be joined together using logical connectives. In elementary logic, there are
four kinds of logical connectives. These are:

1) ‘and’ connective denoted by ‘’ (conjunction),

2) ‘or connective ‘’(disjunction),
3) conditional ‘’ and
4) bi-conditional, also known as ‘if and only if ‘’.

Furthermore, the truth value of a given statement also changes to its opposite by the logical operator 
(negation). If the truth value of the statement p is true, then the truth value of p is false, and vice versa.

The truth value of the new statement produced out of connecting two simple statements depends on the
rules in elementary logic.

1. Conjunction. For the ‘and’ connective, statement, ‘p and q’, is true if both p and q are true.

2. Disjunction. For the ‘or’ connective, ‘p or q’ is true if either p is true, or q is true, or both are true.

3. Conditional. For the conditional statement, ‘p  q’ (where p is the premise and q the conclusion),
pq is true if the conclusion is true. pq is true also if p is false and q is false. It can only be false if p
is true and q is false.

4. Bi-conditional. For bi-conditional, ‘p  q’ is true if both p and q are true, or both p and q are both
false. If one of the statements is true and the other is false, whichever comes first, the bi-conditional
statement is false.

5. Negation. If p is true then p is false and if p is false, p is true.

The following truth tables summarize the foregoing rules:

Table 2.1. Truth table for conjunctions

p q pq
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F
 Table 2.2. Truth table for disjunctions
p q pq
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

Table 2.3. Truth table for conditionals

p q pq
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

Table 2.4. Truth table for bi-conditionals

p q p q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

Table 2.5. Truth value for Negation

P p
T F
F T

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PRACTICE ITEMS. Construct truth table of the following by completing the given table.

1. p ˄( p → q)
In constructing the table, consider the number of statements represented by letters. Note that from this
example, there are two letters p and q . In order to find the number of rows to create, use the formula 2n
, where n is the number of statements (letters). So, 22=4 , so rows will be equal to 4. That is,

p q p p →q p ˄( p → q)

T T
T F
F T
F F

The first two columns will be the standard truth value arrangements true to all statements that is equal to
two.

2. ( p →q ¿˄(q →r )
In order to find the number of rows to create, use the formula 2n , where n is the number of statements
(letters). So, 23=8, so rows will be equal to 8. That is,

p q r p →q q→r p →q ¿˄( q →r )

T T T
T T F
T F T
T F F
F T T
F T F
F F T
F F F

The first three columns will be the standard truth value arrangements true to all statements that is equal
to three.
 3. ¿
In order to find the number of rows to create, use the formula 2n, where n is the number of statements
(letters). So, 22=4 , so rows will be equal to 4. That is,

p q p q p ˄( q) ( p)˅ q ¿

T T
T F
F T
F F

The first two columns will be the standard truth value arrangements true to all statements that is equal to
two.

REFERENCE:

Mamhot, M., Mamhot, A.,Bantug, J., Bangua, E.,Bolodo, R.R., Eullaran, L.,& Aguilar J.,(2018). Mathematics
in the Modern World Workbook. Dumaguete, Philippines: Mathematics Department, Silliman University.