In an ordered pair, the x-coordinate comes first and the y-coordinate comes second.
Practice makes perfect
In an ( x, y) ordered pair, the first number shows the x-coordinate and the second number shows the y-coordinate. To graph C( -4, 3), we first find -4 on the x-axis and make a mental note of this grid line. The x-coordinate -4 tells us to move 4 units in the negative horizontal direction.
Next, we find 3 on the y-axis and follow this grid line until it collides with the grid line from our x-coordinate. The y-coordinate 3 tells us to move 3 units in the positive vertical direction.
The point C( -4, 3) lies on the point at which these two grid lines intersect.
