Do we say "… is greater or equal to…" or "… is greater or equal than…"?

We do say "… is equal to…", but we say "… is greater than…".

What happens when we mix those? What should we say:

• "… is greater or equal to…" (297,000,000 hits on Google), or
• "… is greater or equal than…" (286,000,000 hits)?

… or maybe even "… is equal or greater than…"?

Solution 1:

None of those are really correct.

The correct wording would be:

"...is greater than or equal to..."

Conversely, if we were discussing the opposite:

'...is less than or equal to..."

In a mathematical formula:

X is greater than or equal to Y. Z is less than or equal to P.

To finish our thought:

"Stack Exchange is greater than everything else...it has no equal."

Solution 2:

No, you should say "is greater than or equal to". If you use two words taking different prepositions, there really is no alternative.

Solution 3:

It's a bit "lax", but people do sometimes omit the first preposition...

• X is greater or equal to Y

• X is equal or greater than Y

I personally do not recommend this, although I will say it's "less unacceptable" to me if "Y" has already been referred to in some way, and is simply being restated in different words in this phrase. For example...

• Janet is rich, but John's wealth is equal or greater than hers.

...being a construction where many would allow that the sentence could end at "equal" and still be grammatically acceptable. In any event, the second preposition must always agree with the second comparative.

Note that the opposite relationship is less than, not lesser than.