Is negative 12 greater than negative 4?

No. The further a negative number is from zero, the smaller it is> On the numebr line this is represented by

+12 +11 +10 +9 +8 +7 +6 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12

<- getting bigger/greater ----------------------------------------- getting smaller/less ->