­­Now that you've learned so much about subtraction, you know that it is actually very eas­y. E­ven if you need to subtract greater (larger) numbers, it can still be easy. You just need to regroup (borrow) the numbers and you will be able to quickly subtract three-digit numbers.

Now try this: subtract 679 from 954.

You would need to regroup twice in this problem because the greater numbers are on the bottom. In the ones place, you need to subtract 9 from 4. In the tens place, you need to subtract 7 from 5. You won't be able to subtract the bottom digits from the top digits until you regroup. (You will sometimes see the terms "ones column" and "tens column" used.)

Let's start with the ones place. To subtract 9 from 4, you need to regroup from the tens place. First, add the 1 you regrouped from the tens place to the 4 in the ones place: 20 plus 4 equals 14 (10 + 4 = 14). The 4 in the ones place becomes 14. Then cross out the 5 in the tens place and write 4.

Now you can subtract 14 minus 9.

The digit in the tens place is now 4. You need to­ subtract 4 minus 7. Regroup the numbers again. Let the 4 in the tens place borrow 1 ten from the 9 in the hundreds place (hundreds column). Rewrite 9 by subtracting 1. Rewrite 4 to get a two-digit value in the tens place.

The 4 in the tens place becomes 14. 10 plus 4 equals 14 (10+ 4 = 14) and the 9 in the hundreds place becomes 8.

Now try subtracting the numbers. In the ones place, the problem becomes 14 minus 9, and the difference (answer) equals 5. In the tens place, the problem is 14 minus 7, which equals 7. The hundreds place is 8 minus 6, which equals 2.

Take a look at the following column subtraction:

See how easy that was?

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