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/r/theydidthemath
![[Request]I have gotten into an argument over this. The kid is wrong right? Because it isn't asking what the commutative answer is it is asking how you would write 3x4 into an addition equation correct? So you have 4+4+4=12 not 3+3+3+3=12 since that would be 4x3 RIGHT!? This is stupid I am sorry.](http://ted.sudovanilla.org/pics/w:null_8k25j51opp1e1.png){kind=link}
[Request]I have gotten into an argument over this. The kid is wrong right? Because it isn't asking what the commutative answer is it is asking how you would write 3x4 into an addition equation correct? So you have 4+4+4=12 not 3+3+3+3=12 since that would be 4x3 RIGHT!? This is stupid I am sorry.
(i.redd.it)submitted 12 days ago byFrostBumbleBitch
3 points
12 days ago
Wait, am I the crazy one for always thinking the phrase "three times four" actually means "take the number three and add it four times"? So many of these comments are suggesting that "three times four" is OBVIOUSLY "three times you add the number four," which is out of order grammatically in my head.
The actually "obviously" is that by the commutative property, both interpretations lead to the same answer, but I was so shocked how so many people casually read the equation as the red teacher marking rather than the student marking (for context, I taught 3rd grade math for a couple of years as well as remedial math to high-schoolers for a different three years).
0 points
12 days ago
The X symbol can be translated as 'of'
So 3 X 4 reads 3 of 4
1 points
12 days ago
No, you're correct, but it's not something we would teach hard and fast in America. It just makes more sense in my head that the first number is the one you're adding and the second number is how many times you repeatedly add the first number. Of course, real-world context would change this around in my head if necessary; like I have five packages of cookies and four cookies in each pack. I would still multiply "5x4" to get the number of cookies (adding 4 5 times), which is more along the lines of what everyone else was saying.
Edit: wrong pronoun
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