The word "commutative" comes from "commute" or "move around", so the Commutative Property is the one that refers to moving stuff around. For addition, the rule is "a+b=b+a"; in numbers, this means 2+3=3+2. For multiplication, the rule is "ab=ba"; in numbers, this means 2x3=3x2.
The commutative property of addition means that when you see a problem, you change the order. The co in commutative means change order. That's what my teacher told me.
