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Unfortunately, there is no "easy" way to add and subtract fractions, really-you always have to find a common denominator. If you can't be bothered finding one right away, it may at least be a bit easier to save this step for the end.

For example, instead of finding a common denominator before adding 4 / 13 and 22 / 42, start by simply multiplying the fractions by 42 / 42 and 13 / 13, respectively. This gives us 168/546 + 286/546 = 454/546. You can see that these are divisible by 2, so we have 227 / 273.

(Note that this is a somewhat situational example, in that the fraction cannot be reduced from 546 if some numbers are added, e.g. 546 is not divisible by 5, so 5/546 could be a final answer.)

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Q: What is the easy way to add or subtract fractions?
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