Breakdown of Мало того что я забыл проездной дома, так ещё и телефон разрядился.
я
I
телефон
the phone
дома
at home
забыть
to forget
Questions & Answers about Мало того что я забыл проездной дома, так ещё и телефон разрядился.
What does the pattern мало того что ..., так ещё и ... do in this sentence?
It is an emphatic structure used to pile one problem on top of another.
A natural English equivalent is something like:
- It wasn’t enough that ...; on top of that ...
- As if ... weren’t bad enough, ... too
- Not only ..., but ... as well (but with more emotion)
So this sentence does not just list two facts. It sounds like a complaint: one bad thing happened, and then another bad thing happened too.
Why is так used before ещё и?
Here так is part of the larger pattern мало того что ..., так ещё и .... It helps introduce the second, additional problem.
By itself, так often means so, thus, or like this, but in this construction it is not really translated word-for-word. It mainly strengthens the connection:
- мало того что ... = it’s bad enough that ...
- так ещё и ... = and on top of that ...
You will sometimes hear shorter versions without так, but with так the pattern sounds very natural and emphatic.
What does ещё и mean here?