You can solve this problem by considering the subtracting equation involved for taking each place value of the number  from  and then combining your results. ; , and , which is the answer.

When subtracting with positive and negative numbers, we want to first change the problem into an addition problem to make it simpler to solve.

Step One: Rewrite the first number:

Step Two: Replace the subtracting sign with an addition sign. (When we do this, we have to switch the sign of the second number to its opposite, positive to negative or negative to positive.)

Now we have:

We changed the minus sign to a plus and wrote the opposite of the second number. (In the original problem it was positive 8, so we made it into a negative 8.)

Now that we have an addition problem with two negative numbers, we can just add them together, remembering that the answer stays negative because both numbers are negative.

You can also picture -4 on a number line. Think of moving 8 numbers AWAY from 0. This would mean you would go to -12.

To subtract , borrow a  from the  in the tens digit of .

This is the ones digit of the final answer.

Since  was borrowed from the  in the tens digit of , the tens digit becomes a .  Subtract the  and the tens digit from .

This is the tens digit of the final answer.

The final answer is .

This is a subtraction problem because we want to know how many of the total treats Spot has eaten. We take the total number of treats and then subtract the number of treats that are left in the box. .

This is a subtraction problem because we want to know how many balls are left over after each boy takes one. We start with the number of balls and then subtract the number that was taken. .

This is a subtraction problem because we want to know how many games Jenny has left after she gives some to her friend. We take the total number of games that Jenny has, and then we subtract the number that she gave to her friend. .

This is a subtraction problem because we want to know how many gifts she has left to open after she’s already opened some of her gifts. We take the total number of gifts she has, and then we subtract the number of gifts that she’s opened. .

This is a subtraction problem because we want to find out how many of Matt’s invited friends were able to come to his party. We take the total number of people that were invited, and subtract the number of people that did not come. . 

This is a subtraction problem because we want to know how many students in Ms. Smith’s class are in school today out of the total number of students that she has. We take the total number of students and subtract the number of students who are not in school today. .

This is a subtraction problem because we want to know how many birthday parties Lisa has left to attend this year. We take the total number of parties that she is invited to, and subtract the number of parties that she has already been to. .