If you attempt to add numbers with a concatenation operator, your result will be the result of those numbers as strings.
<?php
echo "thr"."ee"; //prints the string "three"
echo "twe" . "lve"; //prints the string "twelve"
echo 1 . 2; //prints the string "12"
echo 1.2; //prints the number 1.2
echo 1+2; //prints the number 3
?>