lemme post a quick template... as a guide
[tex]\bf \qquad \qquad \qquad \qquad \textit{function transformations}
\\ \quad \\\\
% left side templates
\begin{array}{llll}
f(x)=&{{ A}}({{ B}}x+{{ C}})+{{ D}}
\\ \quad \\
y=&{{ A}}({{ B}}x+{{ C}})+{{ D}}
\\ \quad \\
f(x)=&{{ A}}\sqrt{{{ B}}x+{{ C}}}+{{ D}}
\\ \quad \\
f(x)=&{{ A}}(\mathbb{R})^{{{ B}}x+{{ C}}}+{{ D}}
\\ \quad \\
f(x)=&{{ A}} sin\left({{ B }}x+{{ C}} \right)+{{ D}}
\end{array}\\\\
--------------------[/tex]
[tex]\bf \bullet \textit{ stretches or shrinks horizontally by } {{ A}}\cdot {{ B}}\\\\
\bullet \textit{ flips it upside-down if }{{ A}}\textit{ is negative}\\
\left. \qquad \right. \textit{reflection over the x-axis}
\\\\
\bullet \textit{ flips it sideways if }{{ B}}\textit{ is negative}\\
\left. \qquad \right. \textit{reflection over the y-axis}[/tex]
[tex]\bf \bullet \textit{ horizontal shift by }\frac{{{ C}}}{{{ B}}}\\
\left. \qquad \right. if\ \frac{{{ C}}}{{{ B}}}\textit{ is negative, to the right}\\\\
\left. \qquad \right. if\ \frac{{{ C}}}{{{ B}}}\textit{ is positive, to the left}\\\\
\bullet \textit{ vertical shift by }{{ D}}\\
\left. \qquad \right. if\ {{ D}}\textit{ is negative, downwards}\\\\
\left. \qquad \right. if\ {{ D}}\textit{ is positive, upwards}\\\\
\bullet \textit{ period of }\frac{2\pi }{{{ B}}}[/tex]
so, that said, a shfit to the left, means a positive 4 unit for what otherwise be the "x" group, so
[tex]\bf f(x)=x^2+5x-6\implies f(x)=\stackrel{\textit{shifted 4 to the left}}{(x+4)^2+5(x+4)-6}[/tex]
