Solve for X, combing like terms with all the - signs is giving me trouble

Remember that the "-" in this situation is really "-1"

So   -1 * -5  = +5  because the product of two "minuses"  = a  "positive"  

3(x-1)-(4x-5)=2(5x-1)-7    simplify both sides

3x - 3 - 4x + 5 = 10x - 2 - 7     combine like terms

-x + 2 = 10x - 9          add 9 to both sides and add x from both sides

11 = 11x                       divide both sides by 3

1 = x

Thank you very much sir,

How did the -5 turn to a +5 after the distribitive property step? is this a rule i have missed?

Remember, when we have a negative outside a parentheses, it changes all the signs of the numbers inside.

Thus.......distributing the negative across both terms........

-(4x - 5) = -4x -(-5)  =  -4x + 5

Thus, a negative distributed across another negative gives us a positive  !!!

Ok I understand so the - sign acts like the property we will distribute, and a -(-) is a positive, this was also something else that was making me stumble on this lesson. I cant find this theory in my Algebra book anywhere, thank you very much.