One: Selfish doesn't have anything to do with fish.
Two: Being selfish doesn't have anything to do with fish.
2006-06-17 17:08:40 · 16 answers · asked by donotmisstony 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The first sentence is wrong. It can be corrected as: The word "selfish" has nothing to with fish.
The second sentence is grammatically correct, but it doesn't make any sense.
Through these two sentences I think a teacher is trying to tell his students that the word "selfish" has nothing to with "fish" although both the words have "fish" in them.
Alternatively, you can say "shellfish" has something to with "fish"
2006-06-17 18:03:09 · answer #1 · answered by Inquisitive 2 · 9⤊ 3⤋
The first one is grammatically incorrect, because the subject of a sentence must be a noun, and "Selfish" is an adjective.
The second one is grammatically correct, because "being" is a gerund, which is a verb form that functions as a noun. But the sentence would be better worded by replacing "doesn't have anything" with "has nothing", i.e. "Being selfish has nothing to do with fish", or better (as already suggested), "Selfishness has nothing to do with fish."
2006-06-18 00:46:54 · answer #2 · answered by kslnet 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your second sentece is correct in terms of grammar. 'Selfish' functions as an adjective : as you see in the second sentence, it modifies/describes the state (a noun) of being. An adjective always follows a form of the verb 'to be' when it modifies the noun - in this case, the noun is implied - before the verb.
English does not correctly use the word 'selfish' as a noun, as you have in the first sentence. The nominal (noun) form of 'selfish' is 'selfishness', but saying "selfishness doesn't have anything to do with fish" removes the impact of your sentence.
Another way around this, which will only work if this sentence is being written as opposed to spoken, is to either italicise the word 'selfish' or to place it in quotation marks, thereby avoiding its function as an adjective and making it the name of a word, a noun.
2006-06-18 02:11:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two: Being selfish doesn't have anything to do with fish.
2006-06-18 00:11:37 · answer #4 · answered by Bren 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about:
The word selfish doesn't have anything to do with fish?
I would say that #2 is a better statement, but either could be used.
2006-06-18 00:11:35 · answer #5 · answered by oman396 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Selfishness has nothing to do with fish.
2006-06-18 00:10:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
number 1
2006-06-18 00:10:36 · answer #7 · answered by ~SaRaH~ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neither of the two is correct. The first answer you got is the proper way of expressing that idea.
2006-06-18 00:13:42 · answer #8 · answered by anonymous 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both sentences are written poorly, but ONE has less problems than TWO.
2006-06-18 00:12:45 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
#2, but the content of the sentence is wacky
2006-06-18 00:10:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋