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 tells us the x-coordinate of the point and the second number tells us the y-coordinate of the point. To graph ( -3, 1), we first find -3 on the x-axis and make a mental note of this grid line. The x-coordinate -3 tells us to move 3 units to the left of the origin — the negative horizontal direction.
Next, we find 1 on the y-axis and follow this grid line until it collides with the grid line from our x-coordinate. The y-coordinate 1 tells us to move 1 unit up from the origin — the positive vertical direction.
The point ( -3, 1) lies on the point at which these two grid lines intersect.
