Question

Which of the following phrases translates to the expression n - 8?

a number less than eight
eight fewer than a number
eight decreased by a number
a number subtracted from eight

Answer 1

Notice that in the expression n - 8,
the eight is the thing being subtracted.
We could read it like this: "Eight subtracted from a number."

So we can immediately see that the last option is not correct. It's the opposite of what we want. The third option is the same as the last, just worded differently: The number 8, decreased by a number n.

The second option is correct: A number n, but eight fewer than that.
n - 8

Answer 2

The correct option is B) eight fewer than a number

Explanation:

Consider the provided expression
`n - 8`

Let n is a number.

For negative sign we can use less than, fewer, decreased.

Now consider the provided options.

a number less than eight can be written as: 8-n

eight fewer than a number can be written as: n-8

eight decreased by a number can be written as: 8-n

a number subtracted from eight can be written as: 8-n

Thus, the correct option is B) eight fewer than a number