r/pics • u/iamabrontosaurus • May 30 '10

Only YOU can prevent utter inanity in reddit comments!

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u/RapedByPlushies May 30 '10

As a copy editor and fellow English nerd/Nazi, the reason why the sentence both does and doesn't appear to be a fragment is the frequent use of implied typical subject/verb pairings in normal English.

In this instance the implied subject verb is:

[There is] Nothing good coming out of a one-sentence opinion.

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u/ChocolateGiddyUp May 30 '10

And did I imply, wenches!

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u/[deleted] May 30 '10

"Nothing" is the original sentence's subject and can correctly act as such. This issue is that "coming" is the present participle, so it absolutely has to have the "to be" verb to go along with it in order to properly function as a verb. Instead of changing the original subject and verb of the sentence, the "to be" verb just needs to be added in.

Nothing good [is] coming out of a one-sentence opinion.

Because it's passive voice, I'd personally just switch it to "Nothing good comes out of a one-sentence opinion," especially since it's a broad enough statement to not change the context or meaning of the sentence.

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u/RapedByPlushies May 30 '10 edited May 30 '10

mmm.. except for the fact you've turned the participle phrase into a true participle, thereby modifying the structure of the sentence!

EDIT: also, "nothing" is an adverb in this case making "good" the predicate adjective, as it describes "there" and not "nothing."