Discrete Thoughts


How to say maths terms in English?

At the Math Presentation Workshop at Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Brandon was trying to help us understand undergraduate education in the United States and improve our teaching skills. This was my first time learning how to say math terms in English, and I want to share with you some of the tips. Before I start, I would like to summarize some of the points that Prof. Brandon mentioned concerning teaching.

Finally, here is the list that gives you some examples of spoken Math.

Maths TermsHow to say it?
1xn\frac{1}{x^n}1 over x to the power of n
x3,x4\sqrt[3]{x}, \sqrt[4]{x}cube root of x, fourth root of x
sinnx\sin^{n}xsine to the power of n of x
fgf\circ gf composed with g
limxaf(g(x))\lim_{x\rightarrow a}f(g(x))limit as x approaches a of f of g of x
xπx\rightarrow \pi^{-}x approaches pi from the left
ddxf(x)\frac{d}{dx}f(x)the derivative of f of x (with respect to x) or d over dx of f of x
xy\frac{\partial x}{\partial y}del y over del x
,Δ\nabla, \Deltagradient, Laplacian
loga(xy)\log_a(xy)log (with respect to) base a of x times y
lnx\ln xnatural log of x or ln of x
f(x)g(x)]abf(x)g(x)]_a^bf of x times g of x evaluated from a to b
f(x,y),(a,b)f(x,y), (a,b)f of x comma y, a comma b
f(x),f(x),f(x)f'(x), f^{\prime\prime}(x), f^{\prime\prime\prime}(x)f prime of x, f double prime of x, f triple prime of x
Sn,,fxS_n, \cdots, f_xs sub n, dot dot dot or etc, f sub x
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