Can You Solve the “If I Had 4 Eggs” Riddle?

Social media isn’t just for catching up on your friends’ lives, liking every single photo of your cousin’s new puppy or casually seeing what your ex is up to. It’s also a place where tricky brain games, difficult puzzles and positively head-scratching riddles go viral. Like thousands of other people, you may have seen the “if I had four eggs” riddle pop up on your screen during your scrolling downtime. Were you able to solve it, or were you left totally stumped?

Ponder no more! We’ve found the answer to this viral riddle, and it’s all laid out below. Don’t worry—you’ll still have the opportunity to figure it out yourself. But if you can’t crack it or want to check your answer, you can keep scrolling to get the solution to this deceptively challenging brainteaser.

Read on for the “if I had four eggs” riddle and the trick to solving it!

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What is the “if I had 4 eggs” riddle?

Here’s the full “if I had four eggs” riddle:

If I had four eggs, a thief gave me three and my rooster laid five more, how many eggs do I have?

Here’s your only hint: This challenging riddle requires careful reading!

What are some common wrong answers to this riddle?

Your first thought may be that this is a simple math problem: Just add four plus three plus five, and you get 12 eggs! It’s the kind of basic arithmetic we learned in school … and it’s not the right answer.

Another popular answer to this egg riddle is one egg, but even that answer is incorrect. You might get to one egg by starting with four and then getting confused about the thief, thinking he’d taken three eggs from you. But that detail—that there’s a thief—is there only to throw you off. The thief doesn’t steal three of your eggs; he gives them to you.

So both of those answers are out. Ready for the real answer? Scroll down.

What’s the answer to the “if I had 4 eggs” riddle?

The answer to this riddle is … three!

If you’re scratching your head and wondering how we landed on that answer, try reading the riddle again. We’ll explain the reasoning below, but go ahead and take another stab at it. Keep in mind that this is more of a logic puzzle than a test of your math skills.

What’s the explanation for the “if I had 4 eggs” riddle?

This brainteaser hinges on one very important word: if.

If I had four eggs implies that I don’t actually have them! That’s right: Those first four eggs that we all took for granted are actually just an egg-cellent fantasy.

You have four imaginary eggs, then a kindly thief gives you three actual eggs. That’s a total of three. So what about the rooster’s eggs? Whoops! Roosters can’t lay eggs, so those five eggs are impossible.

And there you have it: You have three eggs in your hand. May we suggest cracking a couple and making an omelette?

FAQs

What are some other riddles involving eggs?

While the “if I had four eggs” riddle is the most popular, there are a couple of others involving eggs. One involves eating them and goes like this:

I had six eggs. I broke two, fried two and ate two. How many eggs am I left with?

The answer is four eggs since all three activities involve the same two eggs, not different eggs, like you might’ve assumed.

Another egg riddle follows along similar lines:

If I had four eggs, my rabbit lays four eggs, a thief gives me three eggs and my farm rooster lays five eggs, how many eggs do I have?

The answer would be the same as the riddle above: three eggs. The “if” sets up a hypothetical, and neither rabbits nor roosters lay eggs.

What are some tricks for solving riddles more quickly?

Look past the obvious answers. There’s usually a trick involved in the riddle that most people overlook at first glance. Think of the rabbit example—we know rabbits don’t lay eggs, but when we’re caught up in counting the eggs to solve the riddle, we easily overlook that key detail. Pay extra attention to words, phrases and even the logical aspect. And keep practicing to become the perfect riddle-solver!

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest is known for our humor and brain games, including quizzes, puzzles, riddles, word games, trivia, math, pattern and logic puzzles, guessing games, crosswords, rebus, hidden objects and spot-the-difference challenges. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our entertainment content and have produced dozens of brainteaser books, including Word Searches, Word Power, Use Your Words, Fun Puzzles and Brain Ticklers, Mind Stretchers, Ultimate Christmas Puzzles and more. Our 10 published volumes of Mind Stretchers were edited by Allen D. Bragdon, founder of the Brainwaves Center and editor of Games magazine. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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