Math basics › When you're stuck

I don't understand what the question is asking

Translate, phrase by phrase

“is” becomes =, “of” usually becomes ×, “per” becomes ÷, “more than” becomes +, “less than” becomes − and reverses the order. Rewrite one sentence at a time instead of the whole thing at once.

Name the unknown before you use it

Write “let x = the number of hours” at the top. Half of all word-problem mistakes are a right answer to a slightly different question.

Try a number

If the question is abstract, put in a friendly number and see what happens. You are not solving it, you are working out what it means.