Is - 1/3 - 4/5 positive, negative, or zero

It's not zero. Zero can only be produced in adding or subtracting when two equal numbers with opposite signs are added or subtracted. - 4 + 4 would give 0. Really tricky things like - 5 - ( - 5) would be 0 because the 2 minus signs would give a plus.

-5 + 5 = 0

It's not positive either. Think money. If you owe someone 5 dollars and you put another 6 dollars on a credit card, your net worth isn't going up into the positive. It going down further into the negative. You wouldn't be alone. The US government does this every day. - 5 - 6 = - 11

So - 1/3 - 4/5 is negative.

The answer is (though you haven't asked for it)

- 5/15 - 12/15 = - 17/15

Hi,

Negative, - 1/3 - 4/5 is subtracting a positive from a negative making it still a negative