No problem, let's work through this together. We're starting with 7388 and 9609 and adding them all up.

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 8 & 9 in column 1 and get 17.
We'll write down the last digit 7 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 8 & 0 in column 2 and get 9.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 3 & 6 in column 3 and get 9.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 9 in column 4 and get 16.
We'll write down the last digit 6 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 7388 + 9609 = 16997.

