Lets say that the first number is x and the second number is y. from the question we know that: y=-3x and x+y=-4 from there, you need to replace the y in the second equation with -3x since we know that is what y equals so we can have an equation with only one variable. x+-3x+-4 Then you solve for x. -2x=-4 x=2 then you find y with the fact that y=-3x y=-6
