Here we go! We're going to add 8438 and 5540 together.

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 8 & 0 in column 1 and get 8.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 3 & 4 in column 2 and get 7.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 4 & 5 in column 3 and get 9.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 8 & 5 in column 4 and get 13.
We'll write down the last digit 3 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 8438 + 5540 = 13978.

