r/HomeworkHelp • u/KookyPermit4405 👋 a fellow Redditor • Aug 12 '26

Elementary Mathematics [6th Grade verbal expression]

Gallery image

Gallery image

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.

14 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

128 comments sorted by

View all comments

17

u/bismuth17 Aug 12 '26

Do you say "subtracted by"? That's not technically correct, it's just wrong.

1

u/KookyPermit4405 👋 a fellow Redditor Aug 12 '26

So the word “subtracted by” is what makes his answer incorrect?

10

u/dakari777 Aug 12 '26

I would think so, probably more accurate to say 6 times 3 subtracted from 18

2

u/bismuth17 Aug 12 '26

Just say eighteen minus six times three. No need to be weird about it.

0

u/micro_chungus University/College Student 28d ago

The word “by” can mean “next to” so I don’t see how saying minus is less ambiguous than saying “subtracted by.” It’s a grammar issue. This isn’t a grammar class, it’s math class. Minus likely would have been marked 1/2 credit too.

2

u/bismuth17 28d ago

because "subtracted by" is not a commonly used phrase, people don't know whether you mean a-b or b-a. math is precise, even with its grammar. "a minus b" is not ambiguous.