How to say "a<b<c"? [closed]

In the mathematics,

a < b

I think it should be said as "a is less than b"

So, does can I say the title ("a < b < c") as

b is larger than a and less than c

or is there a better way to say?

Solution 1:

In higher-level math, my experience says that a < b < c is usually pronounced as "a less than b less than c".

A large part of this is context. If we're examining the result of something, it's certainly possible that someone would say "b is between a and c", leaving some information out (that a < c). This is especially true where one or both of a and c are fixed, as in 2 < b < 7 ("b is between 2 and 7").

The most common case of a < b < c is when one is stating conditions, as "In the case a less than b less than c, we have...". It's easy to see why it's pronounced that way in this usage - we're naming the case we're referring to instead of talking about what the name of the case represents. Since we're just reading a name, we pronounce each character separately.

Note that the programming usage (the other place this might show up) is different: a < b < c would usually look like if a < b < c: and be read "If a is less than b is less than c...".

Solution 2:

I would say “a is less than b which is less than c”. Just saying “a is less than b is less than c” is ambiguous about whether it’s a or b that is less than c.