1.3 How is mathematical language different?

The language used to communicate mathematics is different to everyday language. Mathematical language is precise, with words and symbols having exact meanings, whereas everyday language embraces ambiguity and relies much more on context. For example, consider the following sentence of English.

‘People find mathematics challenging.’

What does this sentence mean? Does it mean that all people find mathematics challenging, or that most people find mathematics challenging, or that a few people find mathematics challenging? It could mean any of these things depending on the context. This is not mathematical language.

Mathematical language often reuses everyday words to mean specific things in ways which differ from everyday language. For example, in mathematics, the ‘derivative’ of a function has a precise meaning, whereas the word ‘derivative’ in everyday language is used much more loosely.

We will discuss mathematical language more in Chapter 2 2   Mathematical statements and definitions.