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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

to make matters worse

Hi,

My house has termites. To make matters worse, the pipes leak.

Can I use 'what's worse' instead of 'to make matters worse' here?
Is there any difference between them?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Yes, you can. "What's worse" means that the leaky pipes are a bigger problem than the termites, while "To make matters worse" just means that the leaky pipes compound the problems, rather than necessarily being a bigger problem individually. Otherwise, the only difference is that the contraction in "What's worse" makes it more conversational/informal, and less appropriate in formal writing.

— Mr Wordy

  • Yes, you can.
  • "What's worse" means that the leaky pipes are a bigger problem than the termites, while "To make matters worse" just means that the leaky pipes compound the problems, rather than necessarily being a bigger problem individually.
  • Otherwise, the only difference is that the contraction in "What's worse" makes it more conversational/informal, and less appropriate in formal writing.
  • "What is worse" is, to me, OK in all types of writing.
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4 Answers
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Yes, you can.

"What's worse" means that the leaky pipes are a bigger problem than the termites, while "To make matters worse" just means that the leaky pipes compound the problems, rather than necessarily being a bigger problem individually.

Otherwise, the only difference is that the contraction in "What's worse" makes it more conversational/informal, and less appropriate in form
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Hi Mr Wordy,

Thank you very much for your help. Can I put 'to make matters worse' and 'what's worse' at the end of the sentence like

My house has termites. The pipes leak, to make matters worse/what's worse.

Thanks.
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"to make matters worse" is not exactly wrong at the end of a sentence, but to me it's much more natural at the beginning.

"what's worse" does not work at the end of a sentence.
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Hi Mr Wordy,

Many thanks!
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