Roman numerals chart
A roman numerals chart lists the numbers 1 to 100 with their numerals, I to C, and the seven symbols they are built from: I, V, X, L, C, D and M. Add the symbols left to right, subtracting a smaller one placed before a larger.
Free printable PDF, 3rd grade to 5th grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
The table below is the sheet as it prints with these options: 1 to 100.
The seven symbols
| 1I | 5V | 10X | 50L | 100C | 500D | 1000M |
1 to 100
| 1I | 2II | 3III | 4IV | 5V | 6VI | 7VII | 8VIII | 9IX | 10X |
| 11XI | 12XII | 13XIII | 14XIV | 15XV | 16XVI | 17XVII | 18XVIII | 19XIX | 20XX |
| 21XXI | 22XXII | 23XXIII | 24XXIV | 25XXV | 26XXVI | 27XXVII | 28XXVIII | 29XXIX | 30XXX |
| 31XXXI | 32XXXII | 33XXXIII | 34XXXIV | 35XXXV | 36XXXVI | 37XXXVII | 38XXXVIII | 39XXXIX | 40XL |
| 41XLI | 42XLII | 43XLIII | 44XLIV | 45XLV | 46XLVI | 47XLVII | 48XLVIII | 49XLIX | 50L |
| 51LI | 52LII | 53LIII | 54LIV | 55LV | 56LVI | 57LVII | 58LVIII | 59LIX | 60LX |
| 61LXI | 62LXII | 63LXIII | 64LXIV | 65LXV | 66LXVI | 67LXVII | 68LXVIII | 69LXIX | 70LXX |
| 71LXXI | 72LXXII | 73LXXIII | 74LXXIV | 75LXXV | 76LXXVI | 77LXXVII | 78LXXVIII | 79LXXIX | 80LXXX |
| 81LXXXI | 82LXXXII | 83LXXXIII | 84LXXXIV | 85LXXXV | 86LXXXVI | 87LXXXVII | 88LXXXVIII | 89LXXXIX | 90XC |
| 91XCI | 92XCII | 93XCIII | 94XCIV | 95XCV | 96XCVI | 97XCVII | 98XCVIII | 99XCIX | 100C |
The two rules
Roman numerals are built from seven letters. I is 1, V is 5, X is 10, L is 50, C is 100, D is 500 and M is 1000. Written from the largest symbol to the smallest, the symbols add up: VIII is 5 + 1 + 1 + 1, or 8; LXX is 50 + 10 + 10, or 70. A symbol never repeats more than three times in a row, which is where the second rule comes in.
When a smaller symbol comes just before a larger one, it is subtracted. IV is 4, not 6; IX is 9; XL is 40; XC is 90; CD is 400 and CM is 900. Only I, X and C are ever placed in front like this, and only in front of the next two larger symbols, so there are exactly six subtraction pairs to learn. The chart makes the pattern visible: the fourth and ninth cells of every row of ten are the subtraction cells.
Where children meet them
Roman numerals are no longer in the Common Core, but they appear in many state standards around 3rd to 5th grade and in classroom life everywhere: clock faces, chapter numbers, the Super Bowl, copyright dates on films, kings and popes. The 1 to 20 chart covers a clock and a book's chapters; the 1 to 100 chart covers most of what a child will read; the 1 to 1000 chart adds the tens and hundreds needed for years, MCMLXXXIV being 1984.
Practice with the chart
Cover the numeral and say it from the number, then cover the number and read the numeral. Write today's date in numerals. Find the year on the end of a film and decode it. Write the child's age, their house number, the page number of the book they are reading. Ask which numbers between 1 and 100 use the most symbols (88 is LXXXVIII, eight letters) and which use one.
Common questions
- Is there a zero in roman numerals?
- No. The Romans had no symbol for zero, which is one reason the system is hard to do arithmetic in and why we use Hindu-Arabic numerals for everything but clocks and chapter headings.
- Why is 4 sometimes written IIII on clocks?
- Clockmakers have used IIII on dials for centuries, partly for the look of the dial's balance against VIII on the opposite side. Everywhere else, 4 is IV, and that is what the chart shows.
- How do you write 1000 and beyond?
- M is 1000, MM is 2000, MMM is 3000. Larger numbers used a bar over a symbol to multiply it by a thousand, which is beyond what the chart covers and beyond what a child will meet.