Coded Inequality

Coded inequality hides the real symbols behind characters like @, #, $, % and &, so the question first gives a key such as 'P @ Q means P is not smaller than Q' and then a chain written in code. It looks harder than plain inequality but is identical work once decoded, and SBI Clerk uses it precisely because hurried candidates solve on the code without translating it. The whole skill is a clean, one-time decode before you apply the same combining rules from the previous topic.

Decode the Key First, Always

Never solve on the coded symbols. Read the definitions once and rewrite the entire chain in real signs in the margin, because a phrase like 'neither greater nor equal' quietly means strictly less than. The wording is deliberately twisted to make you misread, so convert each coded character to one of the five real relations before you look at a single conclusion. A ten-second decode removes almost every error this question type is designed to cause, turning a scary-looking chain into ordinary inequality.

Watch the Twisted Wording

The keys almost never say 'greater than' plainly; they say 'not smaller than' or 'neither greater nor equal'. Handle these by elimination: if A is not smaller than B, then A is either greater or equal, which is exactly A ≥ B. If A is neither greater nor equal, you have removed both those options and only 'smaller' remains, giving A < B. Rule out what the phrase forbids and the surviving relation is your decoded sign, every time, with no ambiguity left.

Solve on the Decoded Chain

Once the chain is in real symbols, the question is plain inequality: read it in one direction, join same-direction signs, and stop at any opposite-sign meeting as no relation. Do not shortcut back to the code to save a step, because that is where the trap closes. The margin translation is your working copy, and every conclusion should be checked against it rather than against the original coded line the examiner printed to slow you down. Keep the decoded chain neat and spaced, writing each real sign clearly above or beside its coded character, so that when two or three conclusions follow you read them all off the same clean line without decoding twice. This tiny discipline of one accurate translation is the entire difference between a candidate who treats coded inequality as easy marks and one who fears it.

Decode key → rewrite whole chain in > < ≥ ≤ = → then combine as normal

Solved Examples

Example: If '@' means ≥, '#' means <, and 'A @ B # C' is given, decode to A ≥ B < C. The signs are opposite at B, so between A and C the answer is no relation. Solving directly on '@' and '#' without decoding is what leads candidates to a wrong definite answer here. Now suppose the key also gives '$' for >; then 'A $ B @ C' decodes to A > B ≥ C, a same-direction path whose strict sign makes A > C definitely follow.

✗ Applying combining rules straight onto @ and # symbols  |  ✓ Rewriting @ # as ≥ < first, then combining the real signs