The 3, 4 and 8 times tables
Maths · Key Stage 2 · The School
Three new tables to learn
You already know the 2, 5 and 10 times tables well. Now come three more: the 3s, the 4s and the 8s. They look harder at first. But two of them are linked, and that link makes them easier than they seem. Once you spot the pattern, learning three tables can feel much more like learning two.
The link between 4 and 8
The 8 times table is just the 4 times table, doubled. 4 times 6 is 24. Double 24 and you get 48, which is 8 times 6. So if you know your 4s well, you already know most of your 8s. You just need one extra step: double the answer. This trick works for every single fact in the 4 times table, with no exceptions to remember.
Spotting the pattern in the 3s
The 3 times table has no shortcut quite as neat, but it has a pattern. Add the digits of any multiple of 3 and they add up to a multiple of 3 too. Take 27: 2 add 7 makes 9, and 9 is a multiple of 3. Try it on 42, or 81, and it works every time.
Finding the hidden multiplication
A box holds 8 eggs. How many eggs are in 6 boxes? The word "in" is a clue. It often means multiply. Here it means 8 times 6, which is 48 eggs. Read the question twice. Find the number that repeats, and the number of times it repeats. Multiply those two, and the answer is there.