 I'm here at the beach, and I'm going to use these rocks that I found to talk about the language of subtraction. So when we subtract something, we take away. If I have four rocks, and I take away two rocks, that leaves me with two rocks. Using the language of subtraction, we would say four minus two equals two. When I write that, I write four minus two equals two. I can write a subtraction problem with words, or I can write it with numbers. Four minus two equals two. I say it the same way, whether I write it with numbers or with words. Four minus two equals two. I can write a subtraction problem horizontally like this, or I can write it vertically like this. I read it the same way. Four minus two equals two. Four minus two equals two. I can write it vertically like this.