Five Workers are absent today. This is one fourth of all workers. How many workers are there?

Question

I am have trouble translating language in pre-algebra word problems into equations.

Answer 1

Five workers are absent today... this is one fourth (1/4) of all workers.

So five is one fourth of all workers.

"is" translates to "equals" and "of" translates to "times"

five equals one fourth times all workers

5 = 1/4 x all workers

4 x 5 =4 x 1/4 x all workers

20 = all workers

Answer 2

This (five workers) is one-fourth of all workers.

5 = (is means equas) 1/4 · (of means multiply) all workers.

5 = 1/4 · all workers    Multiply both sides by 4

20 = all workers