Integers, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

[lyric berry]

I wasn't the brightest student in school, and now I'm playing catch up getting my level 2 in mathematics. I'm having issues solving some basic math questions. For example here are just a few questions.
(-58)+98=
(135)÷9=
38-(93)=
For example I believe the first answer to be equal to 40, but my tutor explained that the brackets means to x by, and the larger value dictates of the answer will be negative or postive. I'm quiet confused and would appreciate anyone who can better explain it to me.

[tropic plinth]

Try to think of this in terms of borrowing money.

If you borrow 58$ from someone and then give them back 98$, how much money did they win/lose from you?

There are many ways to think about it mentally.

Method 1:

• You can imagine that they have a sheet of paper, that has a 0 with your name on it initially

• You borrow 58, so they write -58

• You give 98, so they write -58+98

• Then they first recredit your account with 58 dollars to remove the debt, so they write -58 + 58 + 40

(They split the 98 into debt+ surplus)

• They now have a paper with your name and +40$

Method 2:
You borrow money from them but they forget to write anything.

• They take your 98 dollars
  And then take a paper and write 98

• then they write down your debt, and subtract it from the money you just gave
  in 98-58 = 40

This is why,
-58+98 is indeed equal to 98-58

What your tutor tried to say is that the larger the debt, the more likely the result cannot be "positive" after you add any money

But in this case, the larger value (if we ignore the sign) is 98 and the debt (58) is smaller

So what you can learn from this is that the order in which we perform + and - does not matter

(if we only have pluses and minuses)

[shy peak]

Assuming you're using parentheses, yes.

-58+98 is the same as (-58)+98

Likewise: 98-58 = 98 + (-58)

38-93 = 38-(93)