If a sauce maker has "y" pounds of tomatoes and uses 35 pounds, how many do they have left?

The correct answer is derived from understanding the basic concept of subtraction in this context. The sauce maker originally has "y" pounds of tomatoes. If the maker uses 35 pounds, to find out how many pounds remain, you subtract the amount used from the original amount. Therefore, the remaining amount of tomatoes is represented by taking the total "y" and subtracting the 35 pounds used. This results in the expression "y - 35."

This method reflects a straightforward mathematical operation where the amount taken away is removed from the total, which effectively gives you the remaining amount. Other expressions provided do not accurately represent the situation of having used up a portion of the total. For example, adding 35 to "y" or taking the difference in the form of "35 - y" does not correspond to the actual remaining quantity of tomatoes after usage, while "y / 35" implies a division that is not relevant in this context.