Is -1 greater than 1? They are equal in magnitude but different in sign.
The way to find out if one number is bigger than another is to subtract them.
If -1 is greater than 1, then -1-1 should be positive, but it's actually more negative because the difference is -2. So -1 is smaller than 1.
If 1 is greater than -1, then 1-(-1) would be positive. 1-(-1) is 1+1=2, so 1 is greater than -1.