GMAT word problems are often viewed with feelings of consternation and angst. A lot of students complain to me that math is supposed to involve numbers and symbols… not words that need to be translated! Many students fear word problems because they are scared that the they will interpret a word problem incorrectly. However, this fear is completely unfounded because it’s actually quite simple to deconstruct word problems into their component forms. Anyone can do it.  All you need is a consistent approach and a basic understanding of certain algebraic keywords.

Best practice approach

  1. Understand what the problem is asking
  2. Assign variables, try to use as few variables as possible to simplify calculations
  3. Define mathematical relationships between the variables identified in step 2
  4. Solve for the answer

There are also certain keywords that should be memorized to aid in word problem translation.

Algebra Translation Keywords

Addition

increased by, more than, combined, together, total of, sum, added to

Subtraction

decreased by, minus, less, difference between/of, less than, fewer than

Multiplication

Of, times, multiplied by, product of, increased/decreased by a factor of

Division

per, out of, ratio of, quotient of, percent (divide by 100)

Equals

is, are, was, were, will be, gives, yields, sold for

Example

An auction house charges a commission of 15 percent on the first $50,000 of the sale price of an item, plus 10 percent on the amount of the sale price in excess of $50,000. What was the sale price of a painting for which the auction house charged a total commission of $24,000?

  1. $115,000
  2. $160,000
  3. $215,000
  4. $240,000
  5. $365,000

Solution

  1. The problem is asking for the sale price of the painting
  2. let x = painting sale price
  3. translate the question prompt and we get

    4. example1

  4. solve

example2

The correct answer is C, $215,000


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