Maths Vocabulary in English: Do You Know the Basics?

You’re about to learn some vocabulary to talk about mathematics in English. Also check out Numbers in English: The Ultimate Guide.

It’s a common situation.

As an excellent speaker of English, you can talk about almost anything you want.

Almost …

But when you need to explain a bit of simple maths, like this:

6 × (2 + 8) ÷ 2

… you’re completely stuck.

Don’t worry! You’re not alone! Loads of high-level learners have problems with even the simplest maths vocabulary in English.

So today, let’s solve this issue once and for all!

Maths Vocabulary in English

Addition: 23 + 13

There are two ways we can use this one:

23 plus 13
Add 13 to 23

But what are the answers?

Good question. When we want to say the result of the sum, we can say “equals” or just “is”:

23 plus 13 equals 36
23 plus 13 is 36

This works for all the sums we’re looking at today.

OK. Now what?

OK, so you can make a simple sum in English.

But I’m guessing that most of the time, when you need to talk about maths in English, things aren’t that simple.

Most of the time, when people are talking about numbers and manipulating them with mathematics, they don’t just do a simple sum, then stop.

I mean, how weird does this look?

Usually, we need to do a series of small sums.

So we take a number we already have, then do the calculation from there.

In other words, maths, like language, is something we only use in context.

Add that to 23
Now add 13

We can even use it in fuller sentences:

You’ll get the answer by adding 13 to 23.

OK — I’ve added the numbers up. Now what?

The passive is also very common:

OK. Once all the numbers are added together, send the result to me.

So the guy in the picture above could’ve said:

“Add the monthly profits to the yearly profits. Then add two.”

Or however you calculate company taxes. I don’t know — I’m an English teacher.

Maths Vocabulary in English

Subtraction: 23 – 13

With some basic math terms in English, we have a slightly informal way and a slightly more formal way of saying them.

Here are the less formal ones:

23 minus 13
23 take 13
Take 13 from 23 (23 – 13)

And the formal one:

13 subtracted from 23 (23 – 13)

OK. Now what?

And now in context:

Take 13 (from that)
Subtract 13 (from that)

You can also use these in a more wordy way:

Find the answer by subtracting 10.

Add up the numbers and take away seven.

Maths Vocabulary in English

Multiplication: 23 × 13

OK. We’re getting onto the big stuff! Here we go …

The informal one:

23 times 13

And the more formal ones:

23 multiplied by 13
23 by 13
Multiply 23 by 13
Multiply 23 and 13 (together)

OK. Now what?

And in context:

Multiply that by 13
Times that by 13

And, of course, a more wordy one:

Get the total by multiplying that by 100.

Maths Vocabulary in English

Division: 23 ÷ 13

Division has always driven me crazy.

I mean, addition, subtraction and multiplication — they’re all fine. You can combine any two numbers and then you get another whole number.

But with division, you can get some ridiculous results. Results that make my head hurt.

Anyway, here’s how to talk about this terrifying mathematical phenomenon:

23 divided by 13

Yep. That’s it. No formal or informal thing here. Just the frightening sum with the even more frightening result. (I’m not even going to check the answer. You can if you like.)

OK. Now what?

Divide that by 13

Again, there’s really just one way to talk about division. And that’s it.

Bringing it all together.

OK. So you can talk about basic math terms in English.

But what about talking about a more complicated series of sums? Like we do in real life.

I’m guessing this is something that you either have to talk about or that you have to understand at some point in your English-speaking life, right?

But just saying the sums can be confusing:

Thankfully, there are a few simple phrases to make this clearer and less painful:

Be careful! Don’t get confused between “take that,” meaning “use that number,” and “take that from,” meaning “subtract that from.”

And definitely don’t get it confused with Take That — the ’90s boy band:

And sometimes this can happen with references instead of numbers:

Start with four multiplied by our yearly profit in euros. Take that and divide by 32, then subtract the number of sales in March. OK, then take all of that and take away the number you started with.

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OK. Now you can use maths vocabulary in English.

Wanna try it out?

Can you describe this sum to me?

(32 + (67 ÷ 18) – 87) × 9

Answer in the comments … if you dare!

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