greatest?

“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.”
-Dalai Lama XIV

We were always taught that "between" was for two things, "greater" and "lesser" compared them. "among" was for more than two things, "greatest" and "least" compared them.

- Steve

for my knowledge there are two possibility :

1 : whichever is greatest

2 : whichever is the greatest

(I prefere the 2nd)

Roberto

would you say "whicheve is the greater" comparing two items? there's a thread on the usage of "the".

in this case i don't think "the" in 2) adds anything to the message and would opt for 1).

of course you could opt for the mathematical version MAX(R1, R2, R3, ...)

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

"the greatest of R1, R2, R3, R4."

Use the comparative form (greater) when comparing two items; use the superlative form (greatest) when comparing three or more items.

2 - R1, R2, R3, or R4 , whichever is greatest.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

How about "largest"? Or "highest value"? Or "greatest value"?

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

"value" confuses the issue for me ... do you mean absolute value ?

"largest" is simply the largest magnitude (-ve is always less than +ve).

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

My own experience in standards work shows the use of 'greater/greatest' and 'higher/highest' with no particular preference for one or the other. The same applies to the less commonly found 'smaller/smallest' and lower/lowest'

I'm afraid we have to live with the term 'value'. I accept that out of context 'greatest value' can have a double meaning but this ought not to be the case in a specification or test report.