Addition
Open-ended questions ask for the answer. The answer is not known. The question asks for the answer. Open-ended questions are the basis for word problems or story problems that we will practice later in this book. Right now, let’s continue with understanding the grammar for open-ended questions with the “to-be” and “non-to be” verbs.
The “To Be” Open-Ended Questions–To Be Verb “is”
For the equal sign, we can simply say “is”.
Look at the simple equation:
4 + 5 = 9 “four and five is nine”
“Is” is the 3rd-person singular word in grammar. The 3rd-person singular grammar rule is used to form questions.
For example,
3 + 4 = 7 “Is three plus four seven?”
The addition operation of “three plus four” is the singular subject. It changes places with the verb “is” used for the equal sign.
What is the question when we do not know the answer?
The subject and verb change places, and we use the question word “what” to ask for the answer.
For example, questions that use “what”
3 + 4 = _____
The question is, “what is three plus four?”
18 + 23 = _____
The question is, “what is 18 and 23?”
Your Turn — Practice making open-ended questions with “what” and “is”
Let’s continue the idea that each side of the equal sign is singular for English grammar.
For example,
10 + 23 = 33
On the left of the equal sign, the math operation of addition, 10 + 23, is a single operation. It is one act of addition.
On the right side, the answer is 33. For English grammar, the answer is also 3rd-person singular.
This definition that both sides of the equal sign are singular means that we can use the phrase “how much” to ask about the answer of a math problem.
In the example above, we do not know what 33 is counting. We know, simply, that the answer is grammatically singular. The answer is a non-count noun. The correct question is:
“How much is 10 plus 23?”
Another example:
39 + 13 = 52 The question is, “How much is 39 and 13?”
Your Turn — Practice making open-ended questions with “how much” and “is”
The “To Be” Open-Ended Questions–To Be Phrases
The equal sign can also be said with a variety of “is” phrases.
- is equal to
- is equivalent to
Let’s look at a couple of examples about forming questions with “is” phrases.
For example:
12 + 13 = ______
“What is 12 plus 13 equal to?”
or
“What is 12 plus 13 equivalent to?”
Another example:
56 + 79 = ______
“How much is 56 + 79 equal to?”
or
How much is 56 + 79 equivalent to?”
We can use the question words “what” or “how much” at the beginning of the question. The word “is” moves in front of the addition operation. The other words in the phrase stay to the right of the addition operation. The “is” phrases are split into two when we form these questions with the phrases.
Your Turn — Practice identifying open-ended questions with “what”, “how much” and the “is equal to” phrase.
Next, practice writing open-ended questions with “what”, “how much” and the “is equivalent to” phrase.
The other “is” phrases use the word “same”. Remember, the following:
- is the same as
- is the same amount as
- is the same value as
Let’s look at a couple of examples of questions with these “is the same as” phrase.
16 + 26 = ______
What is 16 plus 24 the same as?
or
How much is 16 plus 24 the same as?
We can use the question words “what” or “how much” at the beginning of the question. The word “is” moves in front of the addition operation. The other words in the phrase stay to the right of the addition operation. The “is” phrases are split into two when we form these questions with the phrases.
Your Turn — Practice identifying open-ended questions for “what”, “how much” with “is the same as” phrase
Next, practice writing open-ended questions with “what”, “how much” and the “is the same amount as” phrase.
Practice one more time with writing open-ended questions with “what”, “how much” and the “is the same value as” phrase.
All of these examples above are grammatically 3rd-person singular. The numbers do not count anything. The operation (e.g. subtraction) and the answer are non-countable terms.
The “To Be” Open-Ended Questions–Other Verbs (not To Be)
The equal sign can also be said without using the “To Be” verb “is”. Do you remember the other ways we can say the equal sign?
- equals
- makes
Notice the final -s at the end of both of the words “equal” and “make” used for the equal sign. The final -s identifies the verb as a 3rd-person singular verb as we saw with the word “is”. Let’s learn about the “equals” verb first.
“equals”
Let’s look at the equation.
4 + 7 = ______
We must use the 3rd-person singular verb grammar rule to make an open-ended question with non-to be verbs. We begin the sentence with a question word, e.g. “what”, then use “does”, write the addition operation, and then drop the final -s from the word “equals”.
For example,
4 + 7 = ______ The question is, “What does seven and four equal“?
17 +14 = _____ The question is, “What does 17 added to 14 equal?
Your Turn — Practice making open-ended questions with “what” and “equals”
Let’s look at the other one-word way to say the equal sign. It is an Other Verb (not to be).
“makes”
It follows the same 3rd-person singular grammar pattern for to form a question. Use a question word, e.g. “what” and “does” before the math operation. Drop the final -s from makes.
For example,
5 + 3 = 8 The question is, “What does four plus seven make“?
23 + 19 = 42 The question is, “What does 23 and 19 equal?
Your Turn — Practice making open-ended questions with “what” and “makes”
Summary
The addition operation on one side of the equal sign (=) is singular.
The answer on the other side of the equal sign (=) is also singular.
The grammar for question formation uses 3rd-person singular rules for making questions that ask for the answer?
