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When you start learning about fractions, you'll encounter 'like fractions'. These are fractions that have the same denominator, meaning the bottom part of the fractions is the same. For example, in our exercise, both fractions are \(\frac{3}{5}\) and \(\frac{2}{5}\). Here, 5 is the denominator for both. This makes them 'like fractions'.

Like fractions are easier to add or subtract because you don't need to find a common denominator - they already have one! All you need to do is work with the numerators, which are the top parts of the fractions.

In summary, if the fractions share the same denominator, you're dealing with like fractions and can move to the next step of adding the numerators.

A crucial concept in fraction addition is the common denominator. Simply put, the common denominator is the same bottom number in two or more fractions. Having a common denominator allows us to combine the fractions easily.

For our example, the fractions \(-\frac{3}{5}\) and \(\frac{2}{5}\) already have a common denominator of 5. This makes combining them straightforward since we don't need to do any additional work to align the denominators.

If the denominators were different, we would first need to find a common denominator before we could add the fractions. But in this case, since they are the same, we can directly proceed to adding the numerators.

The numerators are the top numbers in a fraction. They tell us how many parts of the whole we are dealing with. For the fractions \(-\frac{3}{5}\) and \(\frac{2}{5}\), the numerators are -3 and 2, respectively.

When adding fractions with the same denominator, you only need to add the numerators together. For our problem, you perform the operation: \-3 + 2 = -1\. This gives you the new numerator.

Finally, you place the result over the common denominator to get the final answer, which is \(-\frac{1}{5}\). So, the combined fraction is written as \(-\frac{1}{5}\).Understanding numerators and how to work with them is key to successfully adding fractions.