Sequence of tenses
Hello everyone. I have a question.
Regarding the following sentence:
It was getting dark, and what is worse, it began to rain.
I found this sentence in a study guidebook, but I found it unnatural. Isn't it necessary to say "what was worse" instead of "what is worse" here? What is your take on it?
Top answer
"is" seems fairly natural to me. I would accept either "is" or "was". I'm not certain of the explanation for "is".
- "is" seems fairly natural to me.
- I would accept either "is" or "was".
- I'm not certain of the explanation for "is".
- It could be that we are used to "what is worse" as a set phrase and carry on using it without bothering to change the tense, or it could be that we feel that it is still worse because we are telling someone about it now.
- Ideas about this may vary.
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"is" seems fairly natural to me. I would accept either "is" or "was". I'm not certain of the explanation for "is". It could be that we are used to "what is worse" as a set phrase and carry on using it without bothering to change the tense, or it could be that we feel that it is still worse because we are telling someone about it now. Ideas about this may vary.
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