How do you set this up

Question

4 times a number plus 10 minus two times the same number is six

Answer 1

If x is the unknown number, putting the words into an equation goes like this:

4x + 10 -2x = 6 or 2x = -4 or x = -2

But someone else may interpret the words with this equation.....

4(x + 10) -2x = 6 or 4x + 40 -2x = 6 or 2x = -34 or x = -17

So you can see that you must state the problem without ambiguity. If the second equation is correct, the problem should state

" 4 times the quanity a number + 10, then -2 times the number equals 6"

I suspect the second equation is what the author meant!