Breakdown of Por si fuera poco, la guillotina no corta bien.
bien
well
no
not
cortar
to cut
la guillotina
the paper cutter
Questions & Answers about Por si fuera poco, la guillotina no corta bien.
What does por si fuera poco mean exactly?
It’s a set expression meaning as if that weren’t enough, to make matters worse, or on top of that.
It introduces an extra negative or frustrating detail after something already bad or inconvenient.
So in:
Por si fuera poco, la guillotina no corta bien.
the speaker is basically saying:
And as if that weren’t enough, the guillotine doesn’t cut properly.
Why is it fuera here?
Fuera is the imperfect subjunctive form of ser.
This expression uses the structure:
por si + imperfect subjunctive
So:
- fuera = were
- poco = little / not much
- literally, por si fuera poco = as if it were little
- natural English: as if that weren’t enough
Even if you don’t analyse it word by word every time, it’s best to learn por si fuera poco as a fixed expression.
Why is the subjunctive used after si here?