In mathematics education, a number sentence is an equation or inequality expressed using numbers and mathematical symbols.
The term is used in primary level mathematics teaching in the US,[1] Canada, UK,[2] Australia, New Zealand[3] and South Africa.
[4] The term is used as means of asking students to write down equations using simple mathematical symbols (numerals, the four main basic mathematical operators, equality symbol).
As such, number sentences are used to introduce students to notions of structure and elementary algebra prior to a more formal treatment of these concepts.
A number sentence without unknowns is equivalent to a logical proposition expressed using the notation of arithmetic.