Any Emacs command can be given a numeric argument. Some commands
interpret the argument as a repetition count. For example, if you want
to move forward ten characters, you could type C-f ten
times. However, a more efficient way to do this would be to give an
argument of ten to the key C-f (the command forward-char, move
forward one character). Negative arguments are also allowed. Often they tell
a command to move or act backwards. For example, if you want to move
down ten lines, type the following:
C-u 10 C-n RET
After you press RET key, the cursor will move ten lines downward. You can also type:
M-10 C-n RET
Both C-u and M- allow you to give numeric arguments. If you want to move ten lines backward, you can also give negative arguments, like:
C-u -10 C-n RET
OR you could also type:
M--10 C-n RET
You can obviously use C-b to move backward rather than giving negative arguments to C-n. See Numeric Arguments in SXEmacs User’s Manual, for more information on numeric arguments.