➕ More Than 📚 Grade 2-3 ⏱ 6 min
"More Than" vs "Times More": Explained
"3 more than" and "3 times more" are different operations — addition and multiplication. Mixing them up causes half of all word problem errors.
"More than" means addition
Mia has 5 apples, Leo has 3 more than her. How many does Leo have? 5+3=8. "More than" always means add the difference.
💡 Key word: "more than" — addition or subtraction. "Times more" — multiplication or division.
"Times more" means multiplication
Mia has 5 apples, Leo has 3 times more. How many does Leo have? 5×3=15. "Times more" means multiply.
Comparing with examples
Practice:
Kate has 4 candies, Tina has 2 more — how many does Tina have? (6, addition)
Kate has 4 candies, Tina has 2 times more — how many does Tina have? (8, multiplication)
Kate has 4 candies, Tina has 2 more — how many does Tina have? (6, addition)
Kate has 4 candies, Tina has 2 times more — how many does Tina have? (8, multiplication)
FAQ
How can a child quickly tell these apart in a problem?
Underline the key phrase — "more than" or "times" — before picking the operation.