Tally Marks — 4 — free printable diagram

How do you show 4 in tally marks?

These tally marks stand for 4. They are drawn as no complete groups of five with 4 single marks left over, so counting in fives gives 4.

Number shown

4

In words

four

Groups of five

0

Single marks

4

As a sum

(5 × 0) + 4 = 4

• A tally is drawn in fives: four upright strokes, then a fifth stroke struck diagonally across them to close the group. Counting the closed groups in fives is faster and less error-prone than counting every mark.
• 4 is fewer than five, so there is no group to close — just 4 upright strokes.
• In other words 4 = (5 × 0) + 4, which is what dividing 4 by 5 tells you: 0 remainder 4.