Answer
$a^{x}$
Work Step by Step
If both the base a and exponent x are greater than 1, then
$a^{x}\gt 1$
The negative exponent $-x$ relates $a^{-x}$ to $a^{x}$ so that
$a^{-x}=\displaystyle \frac{1}{a^{x}}$
Since the denominator $a^{x}\gt 1$, it follows that $a^{-x} \lt 1 .$
Thus, $a^{x}$ is the greater of the two.
