No More Carrying Over

“Carry” in Addition – Can it be Avoided?

Carrying over is a concept taught to us at a very early stage of our life. However, it has never been an easy thing to do. In adding two or more numbers, most of us face problem while “carrying over”. Larger the digits, involved in the numbers to be added, more likely it is to involve carrying.   More the carrying over involved, more likely are we to make mistakes.

Friends, remember the most basic and effective rule of making arithmetic fast and quick is to break difficult calculations into simpler, easily manageable small calculations.

Any digit when added to 9 (except 0) makes carrying over mandatory.  On the contrary, anything added to 0 can’t produce a two digit number.  Even if 9 is added to 0, no carrying is needed.

To make things simpler let us create some zeroes


Add 38 + 86

First make 38 to 40 by adding 2.  Now obviously adding 86 to 40 is definitely easier than adding 86 to 38.

86 + 40 = 80 + 40 + 6 = 126

I am sure you must be concerned about the 2 we added out of nowhere.  Well you must be, but if you can balance out this extra 2 by subtracting 2 from the answer (126), the final answer will be the same.

You can create 0 towards the end of both the numbers to be added.  Try to understand this with an example,

187 + 139

Add 140 (=139+1) to 190 (=187+3)

140 + 190 = 330

Now deduct back ‘1’ and ‘3’ added to the respective numbers. Hence to balance out subtract 1 and 3 from 330 = 330 – 1 – 3 = 326 is the final answer.

The effect of the above trick can be remarkable. Like any other quick calculation tricks, this also requires a lot of practice to master it.

Check out yourself by adding the following numbers –

37 +54 =?

79 + 23 =?

While adding decimals, this can be a very powerful trick. Try these questions –

12.97 + 1.34 = ?

14.95 + 11.60 = ?

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Vineet Patawari


8 thoughts to “No More Carrying Over”

  1. Hi Vineet ,
    Vineet will you be able to explain me how to explain carry over numbers concept in addition for IInd and IIIrd Standard students. Since it is very easy for us to calculate but it is very difficult for them to do the sums. I just looking for help.

  2. 5646
    Is there any trick to add chains of 4 digit number . Most of my calculation go wrong here.

  3. this adding method and quotient methods which are the methods i will never forget. so do u have any linear equation methods because i find to hard to solve

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