• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “what is worse,” this fixed phrase functions as a discourse marker meaning “what’s worse,” “to make matters worse,” or “unfortunately.” It is used to introduce an additional negative piece of information, signaling that the next fact is even more troubling than what came before. For example: “Spóźniłem się, a co gorsza, zapomniałem dokumentów” — “I was late, and what’s worse, I forgot the documents.”

  Vocabulary

  • co — what (interrogative/relative pronoun)
  • gorsza — worse (feminine comparative of zły/gorszy)

  Grammar note

  The phrase uses the feminine form 'gorsza' because it agrees with an implied feminine noun — something like 'rzecz' (thing) or 'sprawa' (matter). This is a frozen construction; the form does not change with context. It functions adverbially and always introduces a clause.

  Cultural context

  Co gorsza is slightly more formal than colloquial alternatives like 'i w dodatku' (and on top of that). It appears frequently in written Polish — newspaper articles, reports, formal emails — as well as in careful spoken registers. The English equivalent is 'what's worse' or 'to make matters worse.'

  Beginner

Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!