How do you use opposite methods in subtracting integers? - Answers

Well I believe you may be referring to the fact that whenever you subtract you actually "add the opposite." Another phrase people may use is to "plus a negative." This is not as accurate as add the opposite. An example would 12-5. It can be written as 12 + -5. You are simply adding the opposite of positive 5 which is negative 5. Now this may seem silly, but where it is useful is when you have a lot of negatives. For example. -10- -5. For some this is confusing until we add the opposite. I can rewrite this as -10 + 5. I simply took the opposite of -5 which was positive 5 and added it to -10. This equals -5. Hope this helps.