In a problem like this, you have the see it as two separate problems before you can complete it. I’ll show work but I want to use words to maybe help you understand for the future. So split them apart to become (-x+3) as the first step and leave that alone for now. Then look at -(x-5). With the variable in place, you need to think of the subtraction sign as a negative integer and distribute it to the variables in the parentheses. The negative combines with the x to make a -x and the negative combines with the -5 to make a positive five. So now we have -x+5 After you complete that first part, you can pull the first part back and start to combine them. -x+3-x+5 becomes -2x+8. Now here’s the work part. (-x+3)-(x-5) (-x+3) (-x+5) -x (+) -x = -2x 3+5 = 8 -2x+8 is the final answer