Let's break this down. We're going to add 9947 and 8538 together.

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 8 in column 1 and get 15.
We'll write down the last digit 5 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 4 & 3 in column 2 and get 8.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 9 & 5 in column 3 and get 14.
We'll write down the last digit 4 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 9 & 8 in column 4 and get 18.
We'll write down the last digit 8 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 9947 + 8538 = 18485.

