Place value and number senseGrades 4–6
Roman numerals worksheets up to 3,999
Practice converting between standard numbers and Roman numerals. Choose the direction, set the largest number from 20 up to 3,999, pick up to 40 problems, and print with an answer key.
- Fresh problems every time
- Answer key on its own page
- Print or PDF, Letter or A4
- Free, no sign-up
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A numeral system worth knowing
Roman numerals are not part of the Common Core, but many curricula, classical homeschool programs and Latin courses teach them, and they turn up on clocks, book chapters, movie dates and sports events. They also make a nice contrast with our own system. Roman numerals add up symbol values and have no zero, while the digits we use rely on place value.
This generator prints conversions in either direction. Each line is either a number with a blank for the Roman numeral, or a Roman numeral with a blank for the number.
Settings
- Direction. Numbers to Roman numerals asks the student to write. Roman numerals to numbers asks them to read. Both ways mixes the two on one sheet.
- Largest number. Choose 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 or 3999. The sheet title shows the limit. Numbers start at 1, so a limit of 20 gives a gentle first sheet using I, V and X only.
- Number of problems. From 10 to 40, three to a row.
The instruction line lists the seven symbols (I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1,000) and the subtraction rule, so the key facts are on the page while the student works. The answer key always uses the standard forms, meaning 4 is IV, 9 is IX, 40 is XL and 90 is XC.
A good ramp is 20, then 50, then 100. Add D and M only after the C is comfortable. Reading numerals is usually easier than writing them, so start with the read direction when a child is new to the system.
Worked example: 1,994 and XLVII
Writing 1,994. Work from the largest place to the smallest, one place at a time.
- Thousands: 1,000 is M.
- Hundreds: 900 is CM (1,000 minus 100, so C goes before M).
- Tens: 90 is XC (100 minus 10).
- Ones: 4 is IV (5 minus 1).
- Join the pieces in order: M + CM + XC + IV = MCMXCIV.
Reading XLVII. Scan from left to right and look for a smaller numeral before a larger one.
- XL has X before L, so it is 50 − 10 = 40.
- V is 5.
- II is 2.
- Total: 40 + 5 + 2 = 47.
Splitting numbers into thousands, hundreds, tens and ones is the whole trick, and it is exactly the thinking behind expanded form.
Frequent errors to look for
- Four in a row. Writing IIII for 4 or XXXX for 40. The standard form never repeats a symbol more than three times in a row.
- Wrong subtractions. A student may write IL for 49, because it seems efficient. The key shows XLIX, built place by place as 40 (XL) and 9 (IX). Only I, X and C are subtracted, and only from the next two larger symbols.
- Reading right to left. In XIV, a student who adds 10 + 1 + 5 gets 16. Since I comes before V, it is 10 + 4 = 14.
- Skipping the zero. There is no symbol for zero, so a number like 2,005 is MMV with nothing between the M and the V.
Making it stick
Hunt for real numerals at home: a clock face, a building cornerstone, a book's preface. A quick game is to ask a student to write their birth year. For related number-sense work, the place value worksheets show how digits carry value by position, and the prime and composite numbers worksheet is a good next stop for number-curious students.