Add or subtract?

Decide whether a word problem needs adding or subtracting.

In your book, Maths Mela (Chapter 7), there are many word problems. Before you add or subtract, picture the story. Do not just look for words like 'less' or 'more'.

Preeti's school has 423 children. Her school has 178 children LESS than her cousin's school. The word 'less' is there, but think: whose school is bigger? The cousin's school, because Preeti's has fewer. So the cousin's school has 423 + 178 = 601 children. Here 'less' means we add!

Ram Chacha got 264 mangoes from his tree last year and 527 this year. How many more this year? We find the difference: 527 − 264 = 263 more mangoes.

A train goes from New Delhi towards Aligarh. 894 people get on at New Delhi. At Ghaziabad, 158 get on and 23 get off. People getting on means add; people getting off means subtract. 894 + 158 = 1052, and 1052 − 23 = 1029 people leave Ghaziabad. At Dadri, 67 get on and 75 get off: 1029 + 67 = 1096, and 1096 − 75 = 1021. So 1021 people are on the train when it leaves Dadri.

Picture the story to decide whether to add or subtract; the word 'less' does not always mean subtract.

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