A coordinate plane is made up two perpendicular axes—the x and the y. The x runs horizontally, and the y runs vertically. They meet at the origin, whose coordinates are 0, 0. The first coordinate is where the point lies on the x axis and the second coordinate is where the point lies on the y axis. Up and to the right are the positive directions and down and to the left are negative directions for both axes.

See the example of (3, 4) above. Since three is the x coordinate, you must count three spaces to the right. From there, count four spaces up because four is the y coordinate.

Based on the signs of your coordinates, you can tell where a given point will lie on the coordinate plane. The plane is divided into four quadrants and labeled I through IV starting in the upper right and rotating counter-clockwise, as shown above.

Points found in quadrant I have coordinates that are both positive. Points found in quadrant II have a negative x coordinate and a positive y coordinate. Points found in quadrant III have coordinates that are both negative. And points found in quadrant IV have a positive x coordinate and a negative y coordinate.

Use these guidelines to determine what quadrant your point will be in before you actually graph it so you can check your work afterwards.