Assume numerator and denominator are both positive. All you need to know is whether the numerator is smaller than the denominator. If it is, the fraction is less than 1. Otherwise it's 1 (denominator=numerator) or greater than 1. For example, 9.7/8.8 is greater than 1 because 9.7>8.8; and 8.8/9.7<1.