If you have 5 apples and take away 2, how many apples do you possess?

When you have 5 apples and you take away 2, you are left with 3 apples. The question is phrased in a way that indicates you are still considering the apples that you had initially. While the operation of taking away 2 might suggest you would only count those taken away, the focus is actually on how many remain in your possession after taking them away.

Thus, if you possess the remaining apples, it logically follows that after subtracting 2 from the original 5, the total you possess would indeed be the 3 that remain. Hence, the correct answer reflects the quantity you still have after accounting for what was taken away. This interpretation aligns with everyday scenarios where possession is understood as the count of remaining items after some have been removed.