four times a number b increased by 9, minus twice a number y

Answer 1

4b + 9 - 2y

you might be tempted to write it as 4(b+9) -2y = 4b + 36 -2y

and that's possibly what the problem was intended to want for an answer.

but PEMDAS order of operations places Multiplication first before Addition, so you should multiply 4 times b before adding 9