Answer
negative
Work Step by Step
When adding a negative number and a positive number, the sum has the sign of the addend with the larger absolute value. Since $\frac{7}{8}$ is larger than $\frac{1}{3}$, the sum of $-\frac{7}{8}$ and $\frac{1}{3}$ is negative.
Mental math tells us that $\frac{7}{8}$ is larger because it is closer to 1 while $\frac{1}{3}$ is closer to 0.
The fractions can also be converted to like fractions for comparison.
$\frac{7}{8}\overset?{\lt\gt}\frac{1}{3}$
$\frac{7}{8}\times\frac{3}{3}\overset?{\lt\gt}\frac{1}{3}\times\frac{8}{8}$
$\frac{21}{24}\gt\frac{8}{24}$
