This classic apple riddle looks like a subtraction problem, but the wording is what really matters.
You have 3 apples. Then you take away 2. The question is not asking how many apples remain in the original pile. It asks how many apples you have.
Because you personally took two apples away, those two apples are now the ones you have.
Answer: 2 apples.
Many people immediately calculate 3 − 2 = 1, which would tell us how many apples were left behind. The riddle deliberately asks a slightly different question. It is a simple reminder to read every word before jumping to the obvious calculation.
