8 2/5 and 9 3/4 do not hav common denominators, which is the bottom number. to get a common denominator, you must find the common multiple between both numbers and for these numbers it is 20. so, you multiple the fraction by the number that would get the denominator to 20. for 8 2/5 it’s four and for 9 3/4 it’s five. so take the fractions and put them into 20.
3/4 x 5/5 = 15/20 + 9 = 9 15/20
2/5 x 4/4 = 8/20 + 8 = 8 8/20
now you add the two so the answer would be:
8 8/20 + 9 15/20= 18 3/20