Subtraction By 10

Overview

Previously, you have learned how to subtract by 1, 2, and 5. Today, we are going to learn and work with problems dealing with subtracting by 10!

Let’s dive right in and take a look at an actual practice problem.

There are 13 fish, but 10 fish are crossed out.
We can SUBTRACT to find out how many ARE LEFT.

This will give us the DIFFERENCE.

When we SUBTRACT 13 minus 10, we have 3 LEFT.
We say: THIRTEEN minus TEN equals THREE.
We write it like this:

13 – 10 = 3

Let’s look at another problem!

In this example, there are 17 trains, but 10 trains are crossed out.
We can SUBTRACT to find out how many ARE LEFT.

This will give us the DIFFERENCE.

When we SUBTRACT 17 minus 10, we have 7 LEFT.
We say: SEVENTEEN minus TEN equals SEVEN.
We write it like this:

17 – 10 = 7

Awesome! We will try another problem with pictures now.

Let’s subtract the diamonds.
We are SUBTRACTING to find out how many are left.
We can see that there were sixteen diamonds to start with. Ten of the diamonds are now gone.
When we SUBTRACT 16 minus 10, we have 6 left.
We say: SIXTEEN minus TEN equals SIX.
We write it like this:

16 – 10 = 6

Ready to try another one?

We are subtracting the number 10 from the number 19.
The first number in the subtraction sentence is called the MINUEND.
The second number in the subtraction sentence is called the SUBTRAHEND.
This problem reads as

19 – 10 = 9.

When the SUBTRAHEND 10 is subtracted from the MINUEND 19, we get a DIFFERENCE of 9.
DIFFERENCE is used to describe the amount that is left.

When we want to find what TEN LESS is in a group of objects, we can remember that the DIFFERENCE will be the number that comes TEN BEFORE it when we are counting.

12 – 10 =

For example, 12 – 10 = 2. We also know that when we count, ten numbers that come before 12 is the number 2. This can help us to subtract quickly and correctly when subtracting 10 from a group.

Here is another example.

13 – 10 =

For example, 13 – 10 = 3. We also know that when we count, the number that comes ten before 13 is the number 3. This can help us to subtract quickly and correctly when subtracting 10 from a group.

There are many different words that are used to describe subtraction. Take a look at the image below that shows you important words you should be familiar with.

Knowing these keywords will help you understand that in order to solve some problems, you must subtract.

Let’s try a word problem. 

In the problem, we start with 19 strawberries. The key words ARE LEFT tell us to subtract.

TEN strawberries are eaten from the group. We can subtract to find the DIFFERENCE.

19 – 10 = 9 strawberries

Let’s get our game face on and tackle these next 5 practice questions that you should try on your own!

Practice Question 1

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Practice Question 2

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Practice Question 3

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Practice Question 4

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Practice Question 5

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Take the quiz below to test your skills on subtracting by 10!