What is a commutative property?

The commutative property says you can swap the order of the numbers in an addition or a multiplication without changing the result. It does not work for subtraction or division. Knowing it halves how many number facts you need to learn.

Examples

• 4 + 5 = 5 + 4 = 9.
• 3 × 6 = 6 × 3 = 18.
• But 9 − 4 is not the same as 4 − 9.

Quick facts

• It works for addition and multiplication only.
• An array turned on its side shows why 3 × 4 equals 4 × 3.