Column Addition & Subtraction Worksheets
Vertical multi-digit addition and subtraction · Grades 2–3
Vertical (column) addition and subtraction of 2-, 3- or 4-digit numbers laid out on a notebook grid, one digit per cell, so children practise aligning place values, carrying and borrowing. Choose addition, subtraction or a mix of both; the regrouping option generates problems that need at least one carry or one borrow. Differences are never negative.
Sheets are randomized, free to print, and carry no answer key on purpose – why Super Awesome Math works this way.
How to do it
Column addition and subtraction work right to left, one place-value column at a time, moving ten of one unit into the next column up when a column overflows or runs short.
- Line the numbers up by place value, ones under ones and tens under tens, not by their left edge. On a squared grid this means one digit per square.
- Start at the ones column on the right and work leftwards, one column at a time. Never start from the left.
- When adding, if a column comes to more than 9, write the ones digit and carry the ten into the next column: 8 + 6 = 14, so write 4 and carry 1.
- When subtracting, if the top digit is smaller than the bottom one, take a ten from the column to the left and add it to the top digit. In 503 − 268 the ones column borrows, and so does the tens.
- Work all the way to the last column on the left, then check: the answer should have about as many digits as the numbers you started with.
Where it goes wrong
- Misalignment rather than arithmetic. Most errors here are a digit written in the wrong column, which is why the sheets print on a grid.
- Borrowing across a zero. In 503 − 268 the tens column has nothing to give, so the hundreds column has to be broken down first.
- Dropping a carry. A carried 1 written above the next column is easy to write and easy to forget to add.
Frequently asked questions
- What grade is column addition for?
- Vertical addition with 2-digit numbers usually starts in grade 2, and 3- and 4-digit numbers follow in grade 3. The skill it depends on is place value: knowing that the 4 in 348 means four tens.
- What is carrying, or regrouping?
- When a column adds to more than 9, the tens part moves into the next column to the left. 8 + 6 is 14, so the 4 is written and the 1 is carried. Turning on the regrouping option makes sure most problems need this step.
- What is borrowing?
- When the digit on top is smaller than the one below it, a ten is taken from the column to the left and added to it: in 503 − 268 the ones column borrows, and so does the tens. It is the same idea as carrying, run backwards, and it is where most subtraction mistakes happen.
- Why print on a notebook grid?
- One digit per square keeps the ones under the ones and the tens under the tens. Most early column-addition mistakes are misalignment rather than arithmetic, and the grid removes that source of error.
Settings
- Operation: addition, subtraction or both
- Digits: 2-digit, 3-digit or 4-digit numbers
- Columns: number of problem columns per page
- Prefer problems that require carrying or borrowing
Example problems
- 348 + 275 = □
- 503 − 268 = □
- 67 + 9 = □
- 1204 + 856 = □
More Arithmetic
- Kindergarten Math – Counting, first sums and skip counting
- Multiplication – Times tables & grid practice
- Division – Division facts, with or without remainders
- Long Division – Long division practice
- Multiplication & Division Tables – Every times table as a column of facts