Translating ACT Math Word Problems
Part of the ACT For Dummies Cheat Sheet
When you see a word problem on the ACT Math Test, you may feel a little lost at first. Straightforward math equations seem so much more, well, straightforward. Even though word problems are written in English, they may seem like they’re written in a foreign language. To help you with the translation, the following table provides you with some of the more common words you encounter in word problems and tells you what they mean (and look like!) in math terms.
| Plain English | Math Equivalent |
|---|---|
| More than, increased by, added to, combined with, total of, sum of | Add (+) |
| Decreased by, diminished by, reduced by, difference between, taken away from, subtracted from, less than, fewer than | Subtract (–) |
| Of, times, product of | Multiply |
| Ratio of, per, out of, quotient | Divide |
| Percent | Divide by 100 |
| Is, are, was, were, becomes, results in | Equals (=) |
| How much, how many, what, what number | Variable (x, y) |
Subtraction phrases such as “taken away from,” “subtracted from,” “less than,” and “fewer than” require you to switch the order of the quantities you’re subtracting. For example, “Ten decreased by six” means 10 – 6 (which equals 4), but “Ten subtracted from six” means 6 – 10, or –4.
