Ben had 2 apples. He gave one away to John. How many apples does he have left?

Answer 1

If Ben gives away an apple, then we are subtracting here He starts with 2, and he subtracts 1:

2 - 1 =

So what number comes before 2? Let's look at a number line:

0 --- 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5

1 comes right before 2, so 2 - 1 = 1, and Ben has 1 apple left.