How to get rid of the ceil function I have the following expression and I'm wondering how to get rid of the ceil function (if possible at all): $$ answer = 2n - 4 - \lceil \dfrac{n}{2} \rceil $$ Is there a way to get rid of it such that I end up with a simpler answer?

$\lceil n/2 \rceil = n/2$ if $n$ is even, $(n+1)/2$ if $n$ is odd. You could write that as $$\frac{2n + 1 - (-1)^n}4$$