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This Subtraction No Borrowing drill has 48 problems for Grade 3. Thanksgiving theme. Answer key included.
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Max must subtract ingredients from the kitchen before the turkey finishes cooking in thirty minutes!
Standard: CCSS.MATH.3.NBT.A.2
Preview
Page 1 — Drill
Page 2 — Answer Key
What's Included
About this Grade 3 Subtraction No Borrowing Drill
Subtraction without borrowing is a critical stepping stone in Grade 3 math because it builds fluency with smaller numbers before students tackle the more complex regrouping process. At ages 8-9, children are developing the mental stamina to work with two-digit numbers while maintaining accuracy, which directly supports their ability to solve word problems independently. Mastering subtraction-no-borrowing strengthens their number sense—they begin to truly understand what subtraction *means* rather than just following steps. This skill also appears constantly in real life: calculating change at a store, figuring out how many pages are left in a chapter book, or determining how much time remains before an activity. When students can subtract fluently without regrouping, their confidence grows, making them more willing to tackle harder problems. This worksheet targets the specific cases where the ones digit in the top number is larger than the ones digit below it, allowing students to subtract each column independently without needing to regroup or borrow from the tens place.
What your student will practice
- Subtract two-digit numbers where no regrouping is needed from the tens place
- Recognize when subtraction problems do not require borrowing by comparing digits
- Apply place-value understanding to subtract tens and ones separately
- Build automaticity and accuracy with subtraction facts in the context of larger numbers
Common mistakes to watch for
The most common error is that students subtract the smaller digit from the larger digit *regardless* of which is on top, reversing the minuend and subtrahend. For example, with 43 − 21, a student might see that 1 is smaller than 3 in the ones place and correctly compute 3 − 1 = 2, but then see that 2 is smaller than 4 in the tens place and incorrectly compute 2 − 4 instead of 4 − 2. Parents or teachers can spot this by checking whether the student's answer is larger than expected or by asking the student to explain which number they're taking away from which. Another pattern is careless alignment errors where digits aren't lined up properly in columns, leading to subtracting across misaligned place values.
Create a simple subtraction game using a grocery receipt or a list of items with prices. Write down the original total and remove an item, then ask your child to calculate what the new total should be—for example, "If our bill was 87 dollars and we return this item for 23 dollars, how much do we pay?" This mirrors real thanksgiving or holiday shopping scenarios and lets them see that subtraction without borrowing happens constantly. Have them talk through *why* they can solve it in one step without regrouping, which reinforces their understanding of place value.