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Table of 3: Multiplication Chart, Tricks to Remember

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Table of 3: Multiplication Chart, Tricks to Remember

Quick question. 3 × 7 or 3 × 8, which one is 24?

If you had to stop and think, welcome. You’re in very big company.

The table of 3 isn’t hard. It just gets rushed. It sits between the cheerful 2s and the easy 5s, so everyone hurries past it. Then fractions and division arrive a year later, and suddenly that rushed table is holding up half of maths. Awkward.

Here’s the good news: the 3 times table is full of little patterns. Spot them and you stop memorising and start noticing, which is a much nicer way to learn. Below you’ll find the complete multiplication table of 3 up to 20, seven tricks (pick your favourites, ignore the rest), practice questions, and answers to what parents and teachers keep asking.

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☰ Table of Contents

    Multiplication Table of 3 (1 to 10)

    Here’s the chart:

    Multiplication

    Result

    3 × 1

    3

    3 × 2

    6

    3 × 3

    9

    3 × 4

    12

    3 × 5

    15

    3 × 6

    18

    3 × 7

    21

    3 × 8

    24

    3 × 9

    27

    3 × 10

    30

    Now read it out loud. Yes, out loud, even if you feel silly. Three ones are three, three twos are six, three threes are nine. Your ears pick up the rhythm long after your eyes get bored.

    Times Table for the Number Three (11 to 20)

    Feeling good about the first ten? Don’t stop there. Plenty of tests, Olympiad papers especially, go well beyond 10.

    Multiplication

    Result

    3 × 11

    33

    3 × 12

    36

    3 × 13

    39

    3 × 14

    42

    3 × 15

    45

    3 × 16

    48

    3 × 17

    51

    3 × 18

    54

    3 × 19

    57

    3 × 20

    60

    What Does the Table of 3 Actually Mean?

    Three of something. That’s all. Three groups, three jumps, three copies. So 3 × 4 is 4 + 4 + 4 = 12, and if you’d rather count 3 + 3 + 3 + 3, you still land on 12.

    Picture five tricycles parked outside a school gate. Three wheels each. Fifteen wheels altogether. That’s 5 × 3, and you can see it. Once numbers turn into things you can see, the chanting makes a lot more sense.

    7 Tricks to Remember the Table of 3

    Nobody needs all seven. Try a few and keep whatever clicks.

    1. Skip count by 3

    Start at zero and keep adding 3: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30. Old-school, but it works. Do it on the stairs, on the bus, or while the maggi cooks.

    2. Add 3 to the line above

    Blank on 3 × 8? You likely remember 3 × 7 is 21. Add 3, and there’s your 24. Every line is just the one above it plus 3, so you can always climb back to the answer from a neighbour you trust.

    3. Double it, then add one more

    My favourite, and the one I’d teach if I only had a minute. Since 3 is 2 + 1, then 3 × n is (2 × n) + n.

    • 3 × 7: double 7 is 14, plus 7 more is 21
    • 3 × 8: double 8 is 16, plus 8 more is 24
    • 3 × 6: double 6 is 12, plus 6 more is 18

    If you know your doubles, you already know most of this table.

    4. Watch the last digit

    Look at just the ones place: 3, 6, 9, 2, 5, 8, 1, 4, 7, 0. Every digit from 0 to 9 appears once, then it all starts again. Handy for a quick check. Worked out 3 × 7 and your answer ends in 4? Something’s gone wrong.

    5. Watch the tens digit

    Now the tens place: 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3. Each number repeats three times, then steps up by one. Pair it with the last-digit pattern and you can build answers out of thin air. For 3 × 8, the eighth last digit is 4 and the eighth tens digit is 2. Put them together: 24.

    6. Add up the digits

    This feels like a magic trick the first time. Add the digits of any answer in the table of 3, and keep adding until one digit is left. You’ll always end on 3, 6 or 9.

    • 12 → 1 + 2 = 3
    • 15 → 1 + 5 = 6
    • 18 → 1 + 8 = 9
    • 39 → 3 + 9 = 12 → 1 + 2 = 3

    It’s also the divisibility rule for 3. If a number’s digits add up to a multiple of 3, the number divides by 3. Is 345 in the table? 3 + 4 + 5 = 12, and 12 is a multiple of 3, so yes. It’s 3 × 115.

    7. Split it at 5

    For the stubborn ones, break the sum in two using 3 × 5 = 15.

    • 3 × 7 = 15 + 6 = 21
    • 3 × 8 = 15 + 9 = 24
    • 3 × 9 = 15 + 12 = 27

    Almost everyone feels safe with fives, so it gives a wobbly memory something solid to hold.

    Tables of 3, 6 and 9 Are Cousins

    A small bonus if you’re learning more than one table. The table of 6 is the table of 3 doubled. The table of 9 is the table of 3 tripled. Take 3 × 4 = 12. Then 6 × 4 = 24, and 9 × 4 = 36. Nail the 3s and the other two get a lot less scary.

    How to Learn the 3 Times Table Faster

    Tricks help you understand it. Habits help you keep it.

    Keep sessions short. Five minutes a day beats an hour of panic the night before a test, every time. [Add your own line here, like: “When I practised with my nephew, ten minutes after dinner worked far better than a long weekend session.”] And shuffle the order. Don’t only chant 3, 6, 9, 12 in a row. Ask “3 × 7?”, then “3 × 2?”, then “3 × 9?”. Tests don’t come in order, so why should I practice?

    Use real things when you can: coins, pencils, buttons, a bowl of fruit. Make three groups and count. Say it, write it, then try a word problem, since each one reaches your memory through a different door. Games are great too. Flashcards, a race against a sibling, or rolling a dice and multiplying by 3. And please, don’t turn wrong answers into a big drama. A mistake just points at the line that needs another look.

    Practice Questions

    No peeking at the chart.

    1. 3 × 6 = ?
    2. 3 × 9 = ?
    3. 3 × 12 = ?
    4. 3 × 15 = ?
    5. Riya buys 8 packs of stickers. Each pack has 3 stickers. How many stickers does she have?
    6. A bus has 3 seats in each row and there are 11 rows. How many seats are there?
    7. Is 87 in the table of 3? (Hint: add the digits.)
    8. Fill in the blank: 3 × __ = 27

    Answers: 1) 18, 2) 27, 3) 36, 4) 45, 5) 24 stickers, 6) 33 seats, 7) Yes. 8 + 7 = 15, a multiple of 3, and 87 = 3 × 29, 8) 9

    Where You'll Actually Use It

    Everywhere, honestly. Splitting a bill between three friends. Three notebooks at ₹40 each. Three snacks at ₹25 each. Wheels on tricycles, legs on a tripod. The clock, where every 15-minute block is 3 × 5 minutes. A pizza cut into thirds, which is where the table of 3 does a lot of quiet work in fractions.

    Common Mistakes to Watch For

    The classic is swapping 3 × 7 and 3 × 8. They’re neighbours, so 21 and 24 get flipped constantly. Run double-plus-one on both and the muddle usually clears. Another is forgetting the table keeps going past 30. 3 × 11 is 33, not 31 or 32.

    The sneakiest one? Memorising without understanding. A child who knows 3 × 4 means “four groups of three” can recover from a blank. A child who only learned a sing-song is stuck.

    Conclusion

    The table of 3 is nothing to fear. It’s a small set of numbers with a surprising number of patterns tucked inside. Start with skip counting, lean on double-plus-one when you’re stuck, check yourself with the digit-sum rule, and practise a little every day instead of cramming. Give it a couple of weeks, and 3 × 7 stops being a question. It’s just 21.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30. Each number is 3 more than the one before.

    Skip counting is the easiest place to begin. After that, “double it and add one more” is the most useful for mental maths, because it works on any number.

    Add up its digits. If the total is divided by 3, the number is in the table. Take 51: 5 + 1 = 6, so yes, it’s 3 × 17.

    3 × 11 = 33, 3 × 12 = 36, and so on up to 3 × 20 = 60.

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