The title of this question is often mistranslated by students into the equation 8 + q = d. My question is how can I explain in grammatical terms where the error in reasoning has occurred?

Students are taught early on to translate the phrase "8 more than a number" as 8 + n. What is the grammatical difference between the original sentence and that phrase which causes the mistranslation?

Could it be the presence of the word "quarters" between "more" and "than" and if so, what would be the grammatical function of these words in the original sentence, "He has 8 more quarters than [he has] dimes," as compared to the phrase "8 more than a number"?

Just to be perfectly clear: the topic of this question is an extremely common error in the usage of English to express daily counting and word problems; in particular, its mistranslation into symbols and the strictly grammatical reasons why this occurs.

The sentence "He has 8 more quarters than dimes." is often mistranslated by students into the equation 8 + q = d. This is an extremely common error in the usage of English to express daily counting and word problems. My question is: how can I explain in grammatical terms where the error in reasoning has occurred? What are the strictly grammatical reasons why this confusion occurs?

Students are taught early on to translate the phrase "8 more than a number" as 8 + n. What is the grammatical difference between the original sentence and that phrase which causes the mistranslation?

Could it be the presence of the word "quarters" between "more" and "than", and if so, what would be the grammatical function of these words in the original sentence, "He has 8 more quarters than [he has] dimes," as compared to the phrase "8 more than a number"?

The title of this question is often mistranslated by students into the equation 8 + q = d. My question is how can I explain in grammatical terms where the error in reasoning has occurred?

Students are taught early on to translate the phrase "8 more than a number" as 8 + n. What is the grammatical difference between the original sentence and that phrase which causes the mistranslation?

Could it be the presence of the word "quarters" between "more" and "than" and if so, what would be the grammatical function of these words in the original sentence, "He has 8 more quarters than [he has] dimes," as compared to the phrase "8 more than a number"?

Just to be perfectly clear: the topic of this question is an extremely common error in the usage of English; in particular, its mistranslation into symbols and the strictly grammatical reasons why this occurs.

The title of this question is often mistranslated by students into the equation 8 + q = d. My question is how can I explain in grammatical terms where the error in reasoning has occurred?

Students are taught early on to translate the phrase "8 more than a number" as 8 + n. What is the grammatical difference between the original sentence and that phrase which causes the mistranslation?

Could it be the presence of the word "quarters" between "more" and "than" and if so, what would be the grammatical function of these words in the original sentence, "He has 8 more quarters than [he has] dimes," as compared to the phrase "8 more than a number"?

Just to be perfectly clear: the topic of this question is an extremely common error in the usage of English to express daily counting and word problems; in particular, its mistranslation into symbols and the strictly grammatical reasons why this occurs.