What number is 3 less than 86?

When solving a question like "What number is 3 less than 86?", take a close look at what it is really asking.

You have the number 86 and you are looking for a number that is 3 less than 86. In other words, if you have 86 and take away 3, then how many do you have?

You guessed it! This is a subtraction problem. 86 is the minuend and 3 is subtrahend and the answer we are looking for is the difference.

Therefore, to solve "What number is 3 less than 86?", you subtract 3 from 86 like so:

86 - 3 = 83

Less Than Calculator
Need another answer? Enter another "What number is X less than Y?" problem below:

What number is 3 less than 87?
Proceed to the next problem on our list that we explained and answered.