Borrowing Across Zeros

Master the tricky skill of borrowing when there are zeros

What You'll Learn

Borrow across multiple zeros
Chain borrowing from higher place values
Check answers carefully

📖Handling Zeros

When you need to borrow but encounter a zero, you must borrow from the next higher place value first. For example, in 500 - 237, you cannot borrow from the tens place (0), so borrow from hundreds first, making 4 hundreds and 10 tens. Then borrow from tens to ones.

💡

Remember: when you borrow through a zero, it becomes 9 (because you borrowed 1 from it after you regrouped it to 10).