chevron icon chevron icon chevron icon

Addition And Subtraction Within 10

In this article, we will focus on word problems based on addition and subtraction within 10. We will focus on:

  1. Word problems involving addition
  2. Word problems involving subtraction
  3. Word problems involving more than
  4. Word problems involving less than

1. Word problems involving addition

Example: 

There are 3 girls and 2 boys in a park. How many children are there altogether?

girls and boys in a park

plus box

Solution:

counting girls and boys number

There are 3 girls and 2 boys. Therefore, the parts are 3 and 2.

The correct statement would be: \(3 + 2 = 5\) 

There are 5 children altogether.

 

Question 1: 

There are 5 bottles of strawberry milk and 4 bottles of chocolate milk. How many bottles of milk are there altogether?

  1. 1
  2. 4
  3. 6
  4. 9

Answer:

(4) 9

Solution: 

The given parts are 5 and 4. The total number of bottles will be \(5 + 4 = 9\) bottles.

 

Question 2: 

Joyce has 4 sweets. Linda has 6 sweets. How many sweets do they have altogether?

  1. 6
  2. 2
  3. 10
  4. 4

Answer:

(3) 10

Solution: 

The given parts are 4 and 6. The total number of sweets will be \(4 + 6 = 10\)

 

Question 3: 

There are 4 books on a shelf. There are 2 books on a table. How many books are there altogether?

  1. 6
  2. 2
  3. 8
  4. 4

Answer:

(1) 6

Solution:

The given parts are 4 and 2. The total number of sweets will be \(4 + 2 = 6\)

Subtraction

Subtraction means taking away or finding the difference. Subtract means to minus (\(-\)). For example, \(10 - 2\) can mean, “How many are left when you take 2 away from 10?” Alternatively, \(10 - 2\) can also mean “How much more is 10 than 2?".

2. Word problems involving subtraction 

Example:

There are 10 buttons in a box. There are 7 yellow buttons and the rest are orange buttons. How many orange buttons are there in the box?

10 shirt buttons

There are __________ orange buttons in the box.

Answer:

3

Solution: 

There are a total of 10 buttons in the box. If 7 buttons are yellow, the number of orange buttons in the box would be \(10 - 7 = 3\).

In other words, we can say that:

\(\textsf{Whole} - \textsf{One Part} = \textsf{Other Part}\)

 

Question 1: 

There are 8 apples in a basket. There is 1 green apple and the rest are red apples. How many red apples are there in the basket?

fruit basket

minus box

  1. 6
  2. 7
  3. 8
  4. 9

Answer:

(2) 7

Solution: 

Let’s count the total number of apples in the basket.

counting of fruits basket

The whole will be 8. The given part will be 1 green apple. So, if we subtract this part from the whole, we will get the number of red apples:

\(8 - 1 = 7\)

 

Question 2:

There were 4 oranges on a table. Sam ate 2 oranges. How many oranges were left on the table?

oranges

  1. 5
  2. 2
  3. 6
  4. 4

Answer:

(2) 2

Solution: 

There are 4 oranges in total. Sam ate 2 of them.

counting of oranges

We will subtract 2 oranges from 4 oranges to get the remaining number of oranges. 

remaining oranges

The number of oranges left would then be:

\(4 - 2 = 2\)

 

Question 3:

Peter had 7 marbles. He gave away 2 marbles. How many marbles did Peter have left?

minus box

  1. 5
  2. 2
  3. 7
  4. 4

Answer:

(1) 5

Solution:

We will subtract 2 marbles from 7 marbles to get the remaining number of marbles Peter had left. Remember to subtract because Peter is giving away the marbles.

\(7 – 2 = 5\)

 

Question 4:

There were 10 balloons. 4 balloons burst. How many balloons were left?

minus box

  1. 3
  2. 5
  3. 6
  4. 4

Answer:

(3) 6

Solution:

Since 4 of the 10 balloons burst, we will subtract 4 from 10 to get the remaining number of balloons. 

\(10 - 4 = 6\)

 

Question 5: 

There were 6 butterflies in a garden. 3 of the butterflies flew away. How many butterflies were left?

minus box

  1. 1
  2. 5
  3. 3   
  4. 9

Answer:

(3) 3

Solution:

3 butterflies flew away. This means that we need to subtract 3 from 6 to get the remaining number of butterflies. 

\(6 - 3 = 3\)

 

Question 6: 

Megan had 10 stickers. She lost 8 stickers. How many stickers did Megan have?

minus box
 

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 8
  4. 10

Answer:

(2) 2

Solution: 

Since 8 out of 10 stickers were lost, we will subtract 8 from 10 in order to get the remaining stickers.

\(10 - 8 = 2\)

3. Word problems involving MORE THAN

Example: 

May has 5 balloons. Ray has 2 more balloons than May. How many balloons does Ray have?

girl and kid with balloon
 

Answer:

7

Solution:

In order to find the number of balloons Ray has, we have to add 2 to the number of May’s balloons.

Therefore, \(5 + 2 = 7\).

 

Question 1: 

Nancy has 2 hamsters. Sara has 1 more hamster than Nancy. How many hamsters does Sara have?


plus box
 

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Answer:

(3) 3

Solution: 

Sara has 1 more hamster than Nancy. If Nancy has 2 hamsters, we have to add 1 to the number of hamsters that Nancy has to find Sara’s number of hamsters.

\(2 + 1 = 3\)

 

Question 2:

Joyce had 4 chocolates. She bought 6 more chocolates. How many chocolates does Joyce have in all?


plus box
 

  1. 6
  2. 2
  3. 10
  4. 4

Answer:

(3) 10

Solution: 

In order to get the total number of chocolates that Joyce has, we will add the existing number of chocolates and the ones that she bought. The addition statement will be as follows:

\(4 + 6 = 10\)

 

Question 3:

Gary had 3 pencils. He bought 5 more pencils. How many pencils did Gary have altogether?

  1. 8
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 10

Answer:

(1) 8

Solution: 

In order to get the total number of pencils that Gary has, we will add the existing number of pencils and the ones that he bought. The addition statement will be as follows:

\(3 + 5 = 8\)

4. Word problems involving LESS THAN

Example: 

John has 10 toy cars. Tommy has 2 less. How many toy cars does Tommy have?

John and Tommy with their cars

Answer:

8

Solution: 

The keyword in the question here is less, which means that we would need to subtract or minus. Since Tommy has 2 cars less than John, we will subtract 2 from 10 to get the answer. 

\(10 - 2 = 8\)


Question 1: 

Serene has 6 kites. Amanda has 1 less. How many kites does Amanda have?

  1. 5
  2. 6
  3. 7
  4. 8

Answer:

(2) 5

Solution: 

Since Amanda has 1 less kite than Serene, we will subtract 1 from 6 to get the number of kites Amanda has.

\(6 - 1 = 5\)

 

Question 2: 

Angel has 9 Barbie dolls. Natalie has 2 fewer Barbie dolls than Angel. How many Barbie dolls does Natalie have?

  1. 5
  2. 6
  3. 7
  4. 8

Answer:

(3) 7

Solution:

Since Natalie has 2 fewer than Angel, she will have \(9 - 2 = 7\) Barbie dolls.

Challenge Yourself!

Question 1:

There are 10 pens in a drawer. 2 of them are blue, 5 of them are red and the rest are green. How many green pens are there in the drawer?


10 pens in a drawer
 

  1. 3
  2. 5
  3. 7
  4. 4

Answer:

(1) 3

Solution: 


counting of green pens
 

The total number of blue and red pens is \(2 + 5 = 7\).

There are 10 pens in total. Therefore, we have to subtract 7 from 10 to get the number of green pens.

\(10 - 7 = 3\)

In this article, we learned: Word problems based on Addition and Subtraction within 10. 

  • Word problems involving addition
  • Word problems involving subtraction
  • Word problems involving more than
  • Word problems involving less than
 
Continue Learning
Numbers To 10 Picture Graphs 1
Shapes 1 Ordinal Numbers
Subtraction Within 20 Addition Within 10
Addition And Subtraction Within 10 Numbers To 20
Addition Within 20 Numbers To 100
Addition Within 100  
Resources - Academic Topics
icon expand icon collapse Primary
icon expand icon collapse Secondary
icon expand icon collapse
Book a free product demo
Suitable for primary & secondary
select dropdown icon
Our Education Consultants will get in touch with you to offer your child a complimentary Strength Analysis.
Book a free product demo
Suitable for primary & secondary
Claim your free demo today!
Claim your free demo today!
Arrow Down Arrow Down
Arrow Down Arrow Down
*By submitting your phone number, we have your permission to contact you regarding Geniebook. See our Privacy Policy.
Geniebook CTA Illustration Geniebook CTA Illustration
Turn your child's weaknesses into strengths
Geniebook CTA Illustration Geniebook CTA Illustration
Geniebook CTA Illustration
Turn your child's weaknesses into strengths
Get a free diagnostic report of your child’s strengths & weaknesses!
Arrow Down Arrow Down
Arrow Down Arrow Down
Error
Oops! Something went wrong.
Let’s refresh the page!
Error
Oops! Something went wrong.
Let’s refresh the page!
We got your request!
A consultant will be contacting you in the next few days to schedule a demo!
*By submitting your phone number, we have your permission to contact you regarding Geniebook. See our Privacy Policy.
Gain access to 300,000 questions aligned to MOE syllabus
Trusted by over 220,000 students.
Trusted by over 220,000 students.
Arrow Down Arrow Down
Arrow Down Arrow Down
Error
Oops! Something went wrong.
Let’s refresh the page!
Error
Oops! Something went wrong.
Let’s refresh the page!
We got your request!
A consultant will be contacting you in the next few days to schedule a demo!
*By submitting your phone number, we have your permission to contact you regarding Geniebook. See our Privacy Policy.
media logo
Geniebook CTA Illustration
Geniebook CTA Illustration
Geniebook CTA Illustration
Geniebook CTA Illustration Geniebook CTA Illustration
icon close
Default Wrong Input
Get instant access to
our educational content
Start practising and learning.
No Error
arrow down arrow down
No Error
*By submitting your phone number, we have
your permission to contact you regarding
Geniebook. See our Privacy Policy.
Success
Let’s get learning!
Download our educational
resources now.
icon close
Error
Error
Oops! Something went wrong.
Let’s refresh the page!