Adding

When you add a positive and negative number, you need to look at the "size" or "magnitude" of the number.

-32 has a magnitude of 32 and is negative.

The answer will be positive, if the positive number has a bigger magnitude.

The answer will be negative, if the negative number has a bigger magnitude.

Subtracting

Remember that subtracting a negative number is the same as adding its positive.

When you subtract a smaller number from a larger number, the answer is positive.

When you subtract a larger number from a smaller number, the answer is negative.

Examples

6 - 7 is negative

7 - 6 is positive

-6 - 7 is negative

-6 + 7 is positive

-6 - -7 = -6 + 7 which is positive