4 in Roman Numerals
4
I (subtracted)V
four
How IV is formed
| Place | Value | Symbols |
|---|---|---|
| Units | 4 | I (subtracted)V |
| Total | 4 | IV |
IV is a subtractive pair: I written before V means 5 − 1 = 4.
Four is the first number written by subtraction, and every number ending in 4 reuses the pair: XIV, XXIV, XLIV.
Common mistakes
Wrong: IIII
Why isn't 4 written as IIII?
IIII repeats I four times, so the standard form is IV (5 − 1). Clock faces are the known exception: many show four o'clock as IIII (source).
Where you'll see IV
Super Bowl IV was played on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans: the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings 23–7.
On some opening-hours signs and timetables, Roman numerals number the days of the week from Monday: IV is Thursday.
The Games of the IV Olympiad were held in London in 1908.
Using IV
As the day of a date, 4 is IV: December 4 is XII.IV written month.day, or IV.XII written day.month. Convert a full date
As a month, IV stands for April, month 4 of the year.
Numbers near 4
Properties of 4
- Prime factors
- 2²
- Divisors
- 1, 2, 4
- Even or odd
- Even
- Prime number
- No
- Letters in IV
- 2
4 is a perfect square: 2 × 2.
4,000 in Roman numerals
With a bar over it (vinculum), I̅V̅ means 4 × 1,000 = 4,000. How Roman numerals work