Elementary School Math Quiz: Add And Subtract Within 10
14 questions · exam conditions
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Add And Subtract Within 10Question 1 of 14

Ben has 6 stickers. Ana has 2 fewer stickers than Ben. How many stickers do Ana and Ben have together?

8
10
4
12
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Elementary School Math Quiz

Elementary School Math Quiz: Add And Subtract Within 10

Practice Add And Subtract Within 10 in Elementary School Math with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Add And Subtract Within 10, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Elementary School Math.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Ben has 6 stickers. Ana has 2 fewer stickers than Ben. How many stickers do Ana and Ben have together?

  1. 8
  2. 10 (correct answer)
  3. 4
  4. 12
Explanation: This question is a two-step word problem. First you have to figure out how many stickers Ana has, and then you combine both amounts. The tricky part is the phrase "2 fewer," which tells you to subtract before you add. Start with Ben, who has 6 stickers. Ana has 2 fewer, so you take away 2 from 6:
6−2=46 - 2 = 4
Ana has 4 stickers. Now the question asks how many they have together, so you add Ben's and Ana's amounts:
6+4=106 + 4 = 10
Together they have 10 stickers. The answer 4 is just how many stickers Ana has by herself — it stops after the first step and forgets to add the two amounts together. The answer 8 comes from adding wrong: it looks like 6+2=86 + 2 = 8, using "2" as if it were Ana's total instead of subtracting first. The answer 12 comes from ignoring "fewer" and assuming Ana also has 6, then adding 6+6=126 + 6 = 12 — a trap for students who skip the "2 fewer" clue. A helpful strategy: underline the key words. "Fewer" means subtract, and "together" or "in all" means add. When a problem has two steps, always ask yourself, "Did I finish everything the question asked?" Here, finding Ana's stickers was only halfway — the real question was about the total.

Question 2

Sara has 4 marbles. She wants to have 9 marbles in all. How many more marbles does she need?

  1. 13
  2. 4
  3. 5 (correct answer)
  4. 6
Explanation: Start at the 4 marbles Sara already has and count up to 9: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. That is 5 counts, so she needs 5 more marbles. You can also think of it as 9 - 4 = 5. The answer 13 comes from adding 4 + 9 instead of finding the missing part. But Sara isn't putting two groups together — she wants to fill the gap up to 9. The answer 4 just repeats how many marbles she has now, not how many more she still needs. The answer 6 is a counting slip: if you start counting at 4 instead of 5, you count one too many. Only counting up from 5 to 9 gives 5. When you see "how many more," start at the number you have and count up to the goal!

Question 3

Jack has 9 toy cars. He gives 3 cars to his friend. Later he buys 2 more cars. How many cars does Jack have now?

  1. 8 (correct answer)
  2. 11
  3. 4
  4. 6
Explanation: This is a two-step story problem, and the trick is to follow the actions in order. When someone gives away cars, you subtract. When someone buys cars, you add. Read carefully and handle each step one at a time. Start with what Jack has: 9 cars. He gives 3 away, so subtract: 9−3=69 - 3 = 6 cars left. Then he buys 2 more, so add: 6+2=86 + 2 = 8 cars. That's why 8 is correct — you did both steps in the right order. Now look at the wrong answers. The choice 11 comes from adding everything together (9+3−19 + 3 - 1 or treating "gives" as adding); it ignores that giving cars away means you have fewer. The choice 4 happens if you subtract both numbers (9−3−2=49 - 3 - 2 = 4), mistakenly thinking "buys 2 more" means taking away instead of adding. The choice 6 is the answer to only the first step — you stopped after Jack gave away 3 cars and forgot he bought 2 more. It's a tempting trap because 6 is part of the correct path, just not the finish line. A great strategy for word problems like this: underline the action words. "Gives away," "loses," or "eats" means minus. "Buys," "gets," or "finds more" means plus. Then solve one step at a time, keeping your running total, and make sure you answer the final question — not just the first part.

Question 4

There are 5 dogs and 4 cats at the park. Then 3 animals leave the park. How many animals are left at the park?

  1. 6 (correct answer)
  2. 12
  3. 5
  4. 9
Explanation: This question is a two-step problem that combines adding and subtracting. When you see animals or objects coming together and then some leaving, first put the groups together, then take away the ones that go. Start by counting all the animals at the park. You have 5 dogs and 4 cats, so add them: 5+4=95 + 4 = 9 Now 3 animals leave, which means you take away 3 from your total: 9−3=69 - 3 = 6 So 6 animals are left at the park. That's your answer! Let's see why the other choices don't work. The answer 9 is what you get if you only add the dogs and cats but forget the second step — the 3 animals that leave. Remember, "leave" means you must subtract! The answer 12 comes from adding all the numbers together (5+4+35 + 4 + 3), but the 3 should be taken away, not added. The answer 5 likely comes from just looking at the number of dogs, or from subtracting in the wrong place — it ignores the cats entirely. Here's a helpful tip: watch for the key words in the story. Words like "and," "join," or "more" tell you to add, while words like "leave," "take away," or "eat" tell you to subtract. Read slowly and do one step at a time, and you'll catch every part of the problem!

Question 5

There are 7 fish in a tank. Some fish swim away. Now there are 3 fish left in the tank. How many fish swam away?

  1. 6
  2. 4 (correct answer)
  3. 5
  4. 3
Explanation: The tank starts with 7 fish. Some swim away, and 3 are left. To find how many swam away, take away the fish that stayed from the fish you began with: 7 - 3 = 4. So 4 fish swam away. You can check by counting up: 3 fish stayed, and 3 + 4 = 7, which matches the starting total. The answer 6 is too many, because if 6 swam away only 1 fish would be left, not 3. The answer 5 is a miscount, because 7 - 5 = 2, which would leave only 2 fish, not 3. The answer 3 is a trap, because 3 is the number of fish still in the tank, not the number that swam away. The question asks about the fish that left, so don't just repeat a number you already see in the story. A helpful tip: find the two numbers, decide if the group is getting smaller (take away), then count back up to check that you reach the starting total.

Question 6

In a classroom, 5 kids sit at one table and 3 kids sit at another table. Then 2 kids get up and leave the room. How many kids are in the classroom now?

  1. 8
  2. 10
  3. 6 (correct answer)
  4. 4
Explanation: This question is really two steps hiding inside one story problem: first you have to combine two groups, then you have to take some away. Whenever you see kids joining together and then leaving, think "add first, then subtract." Start by putting the two tables together. There are 55 kids at one table and 33 at the other, so altogether that's 5+3=85 + 3 = 8 kids in the room. But the story isn't done — 22 kids get up and leave. So you subtract them: 8−2=68 - 2 = 6. That's why 6 is the answer: you added the groups, then took away the ones who left. The choice 8 is a trap for stopping too soon — that's the total before anyone leaves, so it forgets the last step of the story. The choice 10 comes from adding everything you see, like 5+3+2=105 + 3 + 2 = 10, but the 22 kids should be subtracted, not added, since they leave. The choice 4 looks like you subtracted 22 from only one table (maybe 3+3−23 + 3 - 2 or a miscount) instead of subtracting from the full group of 88. A helpful strategy: read the whole story before you answer, and underline the action words. "Sit together" means add, and "leave" or "get up" means subtract. Do every step the story gives you — the right answer is usually the last number, not the middle one.

Question 7

There are 9 birds on a fence. 4 birds fly away. Then 3 more birds land on the fence. How many birds are on the fence now?

  1. 2
  2. 6
  3. 5
  4. 8 (correct answer)
Explanation: Let's do this story one step at a time. Start with 9 birds on the fence. First, 4 birds fly away, so we take away 4: 9 - 4 = 5. Now there are 5 birds. Then 3 more birds land, so we add 3: 5 + 3 = 8. So 8 birds are on the fence now. The answer 5 is what you get if you stop too early, after the 4 birds fly away but before the 3 new birds land. Remember to finish the whole story! The answer 6 comes from taking away 3 instead of adding it (9 - 4 + 3 done as 9 - 4 - -... ), really from thinking 3 birds also left the wrong way. The answer 2 comes from taking away both times, 9 - 4 - 3, as if the landing birds left too. Landing birds join, so we add them.

Question 8

Maya has 3 apples. Her friend gives her 4 more apples. Then Maya eats 2 apples. How many apples does Maya have now?

  1. 7
  2. 9
  3. 6
  4. 5 (correct answer)
Explanation: Whenever you see a word problem with steps like "gives more" and "eats," think of it as a story that happens in order. Some parts make the number grow (getting more), and some parts make the number shrink (eating or losing). Your job is to follow the story from beginning to end. Start with what Maya has: 3 apples. Her friend gives her 4 more, so you add: 3+4=73 + 4 = 7 apples. Then Maya eats 2 apples, which means they're gone, so you subtract: 7−2=57 - 2 = 5 apples. That's why 5 is correct — it follows both steps in order. The answer 7 stops too early. That's how many apples Maya had after her friend gave her some, but it forgets the last step where she eats 2. Always read all the way to the end! The answer 9 comes from adding every number in the problem: 3+4+2=93 + 4 + 2 = 9. But eating apples doesn't give you more — it takes some away, so that last number should be subtracted, not added. The answer 6 is close, but it looks like a small counting slip — maybe subtracting only 1 apple instead of 2, or a miscount along the way. Here's your tip: in a two-step story problem, underline the action words. "More," "gives," and "gets" mean add. "Eats," "loses," and "gives away" mean subtract. Do the steps one at a time, in order, and don't stop until the story ends.

Question 9

Sam has some crayons. He gets 5 more crayons. Now he has 8 crayons. How many crayons did Sam have to start?

  1. 13
  2. 5
  3. 4
  4. 3 (correct answer)
Explanation: This is a "start unknown" addition problem, which is trickier than it looks. Even though the story uses the word "more" (which sounds like adding), you're actually working backwards to find the starting amount. When you don't know how many you began with but you know how the story ends, you can undo the action by subtracting. Here, Sam ended with 8 crayons after getting 5 more. To find what he started with, take away the 5 he gained: 8−5=38 - 5 = 3. So Sam had 3 crayons to start. You can check it: 3+5=83 + 5 = 8. It works! Now let's look at the traps. The choice 13 comes from adding 8+58 + 5 instead of subtracting — this happens when you see "more" and add everything together without thinking about what's missing. The choice 5 is the number of crayons Sam got, not the number he started with; it's already given in the problem, so it's a tempting repeat. The choice 4 is close to the right answer but off by one, the kind of slip you get from miscounting while taking away. A helpful strategy: when a problem asks how many you had to start or at the beginning, that's your signal to subtract what was added, even if the story says "more." Always check your answer by adding it back — if your starting number plus the change equals the ending number, you got it right.

Question 10

Lily has 8 balloons. Jake has 5 balloons. How many more balloons does Lily have than Jake?

  1. 13
  2. 5
  3. 4
  4. 3 (correct answer)
Explanation: Whenever a question asks "how many more" one person has than another, it's really asking you to compare two amounts. The magic word is more — it tells you to find the difference between the two numbers by subtracting the smaller from the larger. Lily has 8 balloons and Jake has 5. To find out how many extra balloons Lily has, you take away Jake's amount from Lily's: 8−5=38 - 5 = 3 So Lily has 3 more balloons than Jake. You can check this by counting up: starting at 5, you need 6, 7, 8 — that's 3 steps to reach Lily's number. Now look at why the other answers don't work. The choice 13 comes from adding the balloons together (8+5=138 + 5 = 13). That would answer "how many balloons in all," not how many more — the word "more" signals subtraction, not addition. The choice 5 is just Jake's number copied straight from the problem, but that's how many Jake has, not the difference. The choice 4 is a close miss — it happens if you miscount or subtract incorrectly, like stopping one step short when counting up from 5 to 8. A helpful tip: when you see "how many more" or "how many fewer," picture lining up the two groups side by side and seeing how many stick out past the shorter row. That extra part is your answer — and it always means subtract the smaller number from the bigger one.

Question 11

Tom picks 2 apples in the morning, 3 apples at noon, and 4 apples in the evening. Then he gives 5 apples to his neighbor. How many apples does Tom have left?

  1. 9
  2. 4 (correct answer)
  3. 3
  4. 14
Explanation: This is a two-step story problem: first you gather items together (addition), then you take some away (subtraction). Whenever a word problem tells you someone picks or gets more, you add; when someone gives away or loses, you subtract. The trick is doing the steps in the right order. Start by adding up all the apples Tom picks: 2+3+4=92 + 3 + 4 = 9 apples. Now Tom gives 5 apples to his neighbor, so you subtract: 9−5=49 - 5 = 4. Tom has 4 apples left. The answer 9 is a trap — that's the total before Tom gives any away. If you stop after adding and forget the "gives away" part, you land here. The answer 14 comes from adding all the numbers together, including the 5, as if giving apples away meant getting more (2+3+4+5=142+3+4+5=14). Remember, giving away means taking away, not adding. The answer 3 likely comes from a counting slip, such as subtracting an extra apple (9−69-6) or mis-adding the first numbers. Only careful, step-by-step work gets you to 4. A good habit: underline the "adding words" (picks, gets) and circle the "taking-away words" (gives, loses) before you calculate. Do all the adding first, then handle the subtraction last. This keeps you from mixing up which numbers grow the pile and which numbers shrink it.

Question 12

Mia had 10 candies. She gave 4 candies to her brother and 2 candies to her sister. How many candies does Mia have left?

  1. 6
  2. 8
  3. 2
  4. 4 (correct answer)
Explanation: Mia starts with 10 candies. She gives some away, so we subtract. First she gives 4 to her brother: 10 - 4 = 6. Then she gives 2 to her sister: 6 - 2 = 4. Another way: add the candies she gave away, 4 + 2 = 6, then take that from 10: 10 - 6 = 4. Either way, Mia has 4 candies left. Watch out for 6, which is what she gave away in all, not what she kept. The answer 8 comes from subtracting only the 2 for her sister and forgetting the 4 for her brother. The answer 2 just copies a number from the story instead of doing both take-aways. Remember: when a story has two actions, do both before you choose! Mia keeps 4 candies.

Question 13

There are 6 ducks swimming in a pond. 2 ducks swim away. Then 5 new ducks join the pond. How many ducks are in the pond now?

  1. 13
  2. 4
  3. 9 (correct answer)
  4. 3
Explanation: This is a two-step story problem, which means you have to handle the changes in order, one at a time. When ducks "swim away," that's a signal to subtract. When ducks "join," that's a signal to add. The trick is to work through the story like a little movie, keeping track of how many ducks are in the pond after each event. Start with the 66 ducks swimming in the pond. Then 22 swim away, so you take them out: 6−2=46 - 2 = 4. Now 55 new ducks join, so you add them in: 4+5=94 + 5 = 9. That gives you 9 ducks in the pond. Now let's look at why the other answers don't work. The answer 13 comes from adding everything together (6+2+56 + 2 + 5) and forgetting that some ducks left — but "swim away" means they're gone, so you can't add them. The answer 4 stops too early; it's the count after the 22 ducks swim away, but it forgets that 55 more ducks joined afterward. The answer 3 comes from subtracting when you should add (6−2−56 - 2 - 5 isn't even possible for young counters, but it treats the joining ducks as leaving) — that mixes up the actions in the story. A helpful tip: circle the action words in a story problem. "Away," "left," or "gone" mean take away (subtract), while "join," "more," or "come" mean add. Handle each change one step at a time, and you won't lose track!

Question 14

Emma wants to make a necklace with 10 beads. She already has 4 red beads and 3 blue beads strung on it. How many more beads does she need?

  1. 3 (correct answer)
  2. 6
  3. 1
  4. 7
Explanation: Emma wants 10 beads in all. First put together the beads she already has: 4 red and 3 blue make 7 beads. Now find how many more get her from 7 up to 10. Count up: 8, 9, 10 — that is 3 more beads. You can also think 10 - 7 = 3. So the answer is 3. Look at the other answers. 7 is how many beads Emma has right now, not how many more she needs — that stops one step too early. 1 comes from counting up just once and stopping instead of counting all the way to 10. 6 is a small counting mistake, maybe from miscounting the beads she already has. Ask yourself: am I looking for what she has, or what is missing? Combine the parts first, then count the gap to 10.