Subtraction Word Problems Large Numbers Notes & Questions | Class 5 Mathematics | Drishti OS

Subtraction Word Problems Large Numbers

What you'll learn

To pick out the two important numbers from a real-life story and decide which to subtract from which.
To solve problems about money collected and spent, populations, stock in a godown, distance travelled, and library books.
To write the answer with the correct unit (₹, km, kg, books, seats).

Key concepts

Level 1 — Spotting the "total" and the "used/removed" part

Verbal: Look for a starting amount and something that is taken away, spent, sold, or moved. The answer is always: total − part removed = part remaining.

Clue words	Meaning
"spent", "sold", "issued", "moved away"	amount to subtract
"collected", "population", "total", "had"	starting amount
"left", "remaining", "still empty"	what you must find

Level 2 — Writing the correct number sentence

Symbolic: Total − Removed = Remaining

NCERT-style example: "A school collected ₹68,540 for its fete. It spent ₹34,275 on decorations. How much is left?"

68,540 − 34,275 = 34,265

Level 3 — Units matter

Always attach the unit to your final answer: ₹ for money, km for distance, kg for weight, and plain numbers for people/books/seats.

Worked example

The population of a town is 84,506. If 27,839 people moved to another city, what is the population now?

Step 1 — Total population = 84,506
Step 2 — People who moved = 27,839
Step 3 — 84,506 − 27,839 = 56,667
Answer: 56,667 people

A library has 12,000 books. 4,650 books are issued to students. How many books remain?

12,000 − 4,650 = 7,350
Answer: 7,350 books remain in the library.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Why it happens	Fix
Adding instead of subtracting	Not identifying "left/remaining" clue words	Underline the clue word first, then choose the operation
Subtracting the total from the part	Numbers written in the wrong order	The bigger starting amount always goes on top
Forgetting the unit in the final answer	Rushing to just the number	Write the unit every time: ₹, km, kg, books, seats

Quick check

A stadium has 45,000 seats. 38,275 tickets are sold. How many seats are empty?
A shop had 9,500 kg of rice and sold 6,840 kg. How much rice is left?
A train journey is 62,000 m. It has covered 45,500 m. How much distance is left? (convert to km if needed)
Stretch: Make up your own word problem using today's date as one of the numbers.

Revision tip: Before calculating, say the problem in your own words: "I start with ___ and take away ___."

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Subtraction Word Problems Large Numbers.

Subtraction Word Problems Large Numbers