## Translating Word Phrases into Expressions With Integers

### Learning Outcomes

• Translate word phrases that contain negative numbers, or opposites

Now we can translate word phrases into expressions with integers. Look for words that indicate a negative sign. For example, the word negative in “negative twenty” indicates $-20$. So does the word opposite in “the opposite of $20\text{.''}$

### Example

Translate each phrase into an expression with integers:

1. The opposite of positive fourteen
2. The opposite of $-11$
3. Negative sixteen
4. Two minus negative seven

Solution:

1. The opposite of positive fourteen:  $-14$
2. The opposite of $−11$:  $-\left(-11\right)$
3. Negative sixteen:  $-16$
4. Two minus negative seven:  $2-\left(-7\right)$

### try it

As we saw at the start of this section, negative numbers are needed to describe many real-world situations. We’ll look at some more applications of negative numbers in the next example.

### example

Translate into an expression with integers:

1. The temperature is $12$ degrees Fahrenheit below zero.
2. The football team had a gain of $3$ yards.
3. The elevation of the Dead Sea is $1,302$ feet below sea level.
4. A checking account is overdrawn by $40$