Roman Numerals

Thousands of years ago, the Romans used seven letters of the alphabet to represent numbers. These letters, which are still used sometimes today, are called Roman numerals.

Here are the Roman numerals and the numbers they represent:

I = 1
V = 5
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
M = 1,000

Let's count from 1 to 20 in Roman numerals!

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX

Look at the number 4. It is V, but the I comes before the V in the number 5 and after the V in the number 6.

Look at the number 10. It is X, but the I comes before the X in the number 9 and after the X in the number 11.

Do you see the pattern?