Final answer:
The expression '3 less than twice the given number' where the number is represented by x is written as 2x - 3. This signifies taking two times the number (2x) and subtracting 3 from it.
Step-by-step explanation:
The expression "3 less than twice the given number" when the given number is represented by x can be written as 2x - 3. This expression is derived by first taking twice the given number, which is represented mathematically as 2x (since 'twice' means 'two times'). Then, to represent '3 less than' this quantity, we subtract 3, resulting in the expression 2x - 3. So, if x is the number of children in a family, and we want to express '3 less than twice the number of children,' we would use 2x - 3.