WorksheetsAbout this worksheet
Choose the size of the numbers and whether the sums need borrowing (also called regrouping). The bigger number always comes first, so no answer goes below zero.
Borrowing is the hardest step in primary arithmetic. Give plenty of sheets without borrowing first. Then switch to "Every sum has borrowing" for a few days so that the child meets the same step again and again, and only then go to mixed sheets.
What this skill is
Subtraction answers three kinds of question: how many are left, how many more are needed, and what is the difference between two amounts. All three use the same sum. On paper we take ones from ones and tens from tens. When the top digit is too small, one of the next bigger place is opened into ten smaller ones. That is borrowing.
A worked example
Take 503 − 268. The ones column asks for 3 − 8, which cannot be done, and the tens column has 0 to lend.
- Go to the hundreds: 5 hundreds become 4 hundreds, and the tens column now has 10 tens.
- Take one of those tens: the tens become 9 and the ones become 13.
- Now subtract: 13 − 8 = 5, 9 − 6 = 3, 4 − 2 = 2.
The answer is 235. Check by adding: 235 + 268 = 503.
Tips for parents and teachers
- Before borrowing, let the child read the top number in tens and ones: "52 is 5 tens and 2 ones, or 4 tens and 12 ones".
- Teach the child to check by adding: the answer plus the smaller number must give the bigger number.
- Watch for the classic mistake of subtracting the smaller digit from the larger in every column, whichever is on top. Sheets where every sum has borrowing bring it out quickly.
How to use this sheet at home and in class
- At home: keep a week on "No borrowing", then a week on "Every sum has borrowing", then go to "Mixed". Mixed sheets are a test, not a first lesson.
- In class: ask children to write the check sum (answer plus the smaller number) beside three sums of their choice. It shows who understands and who is following steps blindly.
- Use real things for the first borrowing lesson: ten-rupee notes and one-rupee coins, where one note is changed for ten coins.
Mistakes to watch for
- Taking the smaller digit from the bigger in every column, so 52 − 17 becomes 45. This is the commonest subtraction mistake in primary classes.
- Borrowing but forgetting to make the lending digit one less. Ask the child to cross out the old digit and write the new one above it, every time.
- Getting lost when there is a zero in the top number, as in 503 or 4,000. Give a few sums with zeros on purpose and work the first one together.
What to try next
- Missing numbers worksheets: sums with a blank to fill.
- Indian money worksheets: working out change is subtraction.
- Decimals worksheets: the same method with a decimal point, for classes 4 to 6.
Ready settings by class
- Subtraction, 1 digit, in a line Class 1
- Subtraction, 2 digits, no borrowing Class 2
- Subtraction, 2 digits, with borrowing Class 2
- Subtraction, 3 digits Class 3
Common questions
What is borrowing in subtraction?
When the top digit in a column is smaller than the bottom digit, you take one ten from the next column on the left. That column becomes one less and the present column gets ten more. In 52 minus 17, the 2 becomes 12 and the 5 becomes 4.