Concept 7 of 7
Word Problems: Pick the Operation
Today's big idea
Decide what the story is doing to the amount before you decide which sum to write.
Clue words help, but the story decides; read what actually happens first.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
A word problem hands you a story and no sum. Nothing on the page says plus or minus. Half the work is done the moment you decide which of the four operations the story is actually asking for.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the sorted words above. Certain words lean certain ways. Altogether and total lean towards adding, while left and how many more lean towards taking away. Each and per point at equal groups, and shared equally points at dividing. They are hints, not orders. What settles it is what happens in the story.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Read the story once without doing anything, then look at the list above.
- 2.Ask what is happening to the amount: is it growing, shrinking, repeating in equal groups, or being split up?
- 3.Write the sum that matches what happens, then work it out.
✍️ Try it
Six tickets cost 45 rupees each. What is the total? Then: 54 chocolates are shared equally among 6 children, so how many does each child get?
The first repeats the same price six times, which is equal groups, so multiply: 45 × 6 = 270 rupees. The second splits one pile into equal shares, so divide: 54 divided by 6 = 9 chocolates each.
⚠️ Watch out
You might be thinking a clue word decides it on its own. 'She had 20 sweets and gave away 5, then got 8 more' contains more, but the story needs a take away and an add. Read what happens before you trust the word.
🌟 Why this matters
Nearly every real maths moment arrives as a story with no signs in it: splitting a bill, working out change, checking you have enough. Choosing the operation is the whole skill.
Exam tip: Papers write questions this way deliberately, so they rarely hand you a bare sum.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“One ticket costs ₹45. How much for 6 tickets?”
- 1
Find the clue words
“6 tickets” at ₹45 each = 6 equal groups. 🕵️
- 2
Equal groups → multiply
The same amount repeated many times means ×, not +.
- 3
Solve
45 × 6 = 270
- 4
Answer ✓
6 tickets cost ₹270
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Read the clue words (highlighted), then tap the operation they point to.
PROBLEM 1 OF 3
Meena has 3 boxes with 6 crayons in each box. How many crayons in all?
Which operation?
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
A 40 cm ribbon is cut into 5 equal pieces. Which operation finds the length of each piece?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!