‘just as common a problem is’

Hi, Deepcosmos,

@deepcosmos posted:

“We worry that the robots are taking our jobs, but just as common a problem is that the robots are taking our judgement.”

Yes, in that sentence "just as common a problem" is a fronted subject complement. Both robots taking our jobs and robots taking our judgement are common problems. Inversion is desirable in this case for more effective linking with "the problem that the robots are taking our jobs."

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

Yes, in that sentence "just as common a problem" is a fronted subject complement. Both robots taking our jobs and robots taking our judgement are common problems. Inversion is desirable in this case for more effective linking with "the problem that the robots are taking our jobs."

Hi, Gustavo, appreciate yours but I need your help again. Would you kindly explain which parts of the inversion are being linked more effectively in two paraphrased versions of the original sentence (words in bold is what, I think, is being linked)? I guess what you mean might be no.1 below;

1. that the robots are taking our jobs is a problem, but just as common a problem is that the robots are taking our judgement (here two 'problems' are closely joined). Or,

2. a problem is that the robots are taking our jobs, but just as common a problem is that the robots are taking our judgement.

Well, as you know it is usually the case that in sentences with linking verbs subject and subject complement can be interchangeable:

A problem is that the robots are taking our jobs / That the robots are taking our jobs is a problem.

Just as common a problem is that the robots are taking our judgement / That the robots are taking our judgement is just as common a problem.

Stylistically, inversion works better than non-inversion in the given sentence. Compare with:

We worry that the robots are taking our jobs, but that the robots are taking our judgement is just as common a problem.

Though grammatical, you will agree that the sentence above is really awkward.

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

Well, as you know it is usually the case that in sentences with linking verbs subject and subject complement can be interchangeable:

A problem is that the robots are taking our jobs / That the robots are taking our jobs is a problem.

Just as common a problem is that the robots are taking our judgement / That the robots are taking our judgement is just as common a problem.

Stylistically, inversion works better than non-inversion in the given sentence. Compare with:

We worry that the robots are taking our jobs, but that the robots are taking our judgement is just as common a problem.

Though grammatical, you will agree that the sentence above is really awkward.

Hi, Gustavo, I got it. You mean that by inverting two elements the long subject clause could be located in the end, which works stylistically better. Appreciate.