What better time than one in which nothing makes any sense to revive the ancient dream of knowing everything?
Shouldn't it be:
What is a time than one in which nothing makes any sense to revive the ancient dream of knowing everything?
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The first sentence seems to be grammatically accurate. – Varun Nair Oct 20 '17 at 10:45
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@VarunNair Is the sentence complete? – JoZ Oct 20 '17 at 10:53
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Yes, it is a complete sentence, or rather a 'rhetorical question' than a sentence. – Varun Nair Oct 20 '17 at 10:55
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The sentence you quote is not a full sentence—its predicate has been deleted—but this is an acceptable and quite common way of phrasing a (usually rhetorical) question. Here's the basic form:
Should we do Y now?
What better timeis there?
In your example, the phrase than one in which nothing makes any sense is the complement of the comparative better, and the infinitival to revive the ancient dream of knowing everything is the complement of time:
What better time
is therethan X to do Y?
answered Oct 20 '17 at 11:01
