GE B1 - So in English Grammar

‘So’ in English Grammar
General English B1
So + Adjective
• We use so as an intensifier to mean ‘very, very’
or ‘really’:
▫ That motorway is so dangerous. Everyone drives
too fast.
▫ That’s kind of you. Thanks so much for thinking
of us.
• We often use so with that:

▫ He’s so lazy that he never helps out with the
housework.
▫ It was so dark (that) we could hardly see.
So + Adverb
• We often use so when we mean ‘to such a
great extent’
• With this meaning, ’so’ is a degree adverb that
modifies adjectives and other adverbs:
▫ Using that camera is easy. Why is she making
it so difficult?
▫ Why is she so untidy?
▫ I’m sorry I’m walking so slowly. I’ve hurt my
ankle.
▫ It doesn’t always work out so well.
• We don’t use so before an adjective + a noun
(attributive adjective). We use such:
▫ She emailed us such lovely pictures of her and
Enzo.
Not: … so lovely pictures …
• We use such not so to modify noun phrases:

▫ She is such a hard-working colleague.
Not: … so a hard-working colleague.
▫ It’s taken them such a long time to send the
travel brochures.
Not: … so a long time …
So much and so many
• We use so before much, many, little and few:
▫ There were so many people on the beach it was
difficult to get into the sea.
▫ There are so few people who know what it is like
in our country for other people from different
cultures.
▫ You’ve eaten so little and I’ve eaten so much!
• We use so much, not so, before
comparatives:
▫ I feel so much better after I’ve been for a run in
the park.
Not: I feel so better …
▫ My house is so much colder than yours.
So substituting for an adjective
• In formal contexts we can use so instead of an
adjective phrase after a verb:
▫ The bus service was very unreliable when I was
young and it remains so even today.
(It remains very unreliable …)
▫ She is very anxious. She’s been so since the
accident.
(She’s been very anxious since the accident.)
More so, less so
• When we are comparing, we use more
so and less so as substitutes:
▫ The kitchen is very old-fashioned, the living
room more so.
(The living room is more old-fashioned than the
kitchen.)
▫ My old office was very dark; my new office less
so.
(My new office is less dark than my old office.)
So as substitute
• With some verbs, we often use so instead of
repeating an object clause, especially in
short answers:
▫ A: Will Megan be at the meeting today?
B: I think so.
(I think Megan will be at the meeting today.)
▫ The next train is going to be half an hour late.
They told me so when I bought my ticket.
(They told me (that) the next train is going to be half
an hour late.)
So with reporting verbs
• Especially in speaking, we sometimes use so in front
position in short responses with reporting verbs
such as believe, say, tell, hear, read:
▫ She’s the most popular singer. So everybody says,
anyway.
▫ A: Janet got the job.
B: So I heard.
(I heard that Janet got the job.)
▫ A: The Council has given planning permission for
another shopping centre in the city.
▫ B: So I read in the paper.
(I read that the Council has given planning permission for
another shopping centre.)
So am I, so do I, Neither do I
• We use so with be and with modal and auxiliary
verbs to mean ‘in the same way’, ‘as well’ or ‘too’.
• We use it in order to avoid repeating a verb,
especially in short responses with pronoun subjects.
▫ Geoff is a very good long-distance runner
[V] [S]
and so is his wife.
▫ They all joined the new gym and after three
[V] [S]
▫ weeks so did he.
(… and after three weeks he joined the gym too.)
• We use not … either, nor or neither when we
want to give a negative meaning:
▫ A: I don’t think she’ll be coming to the party.
B: Nor/Neither do I.
(or I don’t either.)
So in exclamations
• When we make exclamative responses, we can
use so as a substitute before the subject and
verb be:
▫ A: We’re out of salt.
B: Oh, so we are!
▫ A: Look Mum, I can climb all the way to the top.
B: So you can!
So as a conjunction
• We use so as a subordinating conjunction to
introduce clauses of result or decision:
▫ I got here late. It was a long journey, so I’m
really tired now.
▫ You are right, of course, so I think we will accept
what the bank offers.
▫ It’s much cheaper with that airline, isn’t it, so I’ll
get all the tickets for us with them.
So and that-clauses
• We use so + that as a conjunction to introduce
clauses of reason and explanation:
▫ They both went on a diet so that they could play
more football with their friends.
• We also use so + adjective or adverb before that-

clauses. We do not use very in this structure:
▫ It was so hot that we didn’t leave the air-
conditioned room all day.
▫ They drove so fast that they escaped the police car
that was chasing them.
Not: They drove very fast that …
So as a discourse marker
• So is a very common discourse marker in speaking.
• It usually occurs at the beginning of clauses and we use it
when we are summarizing what has just been said, or when
we are changing topic:
▫ [from a lecture on English literature]
So, we’ve covered the nineteenth century and we’re now going
to look at all the experiments in the novel in the early twentieth
century.
▫ [discussing whether to eat a pudding or keep it till the following

morning]
A: I’m not having it cold in the morning.
B: Oh. So what sort of pudding is it?
▫ So, what time does the film start?

So: other uses in speaking
• So far means ‘up to now’:
▫ So far we have kept the news within the family.
• We use the expression is that so? in responses to

express surprise or suspicion:
▫ A: When I came to the flat all the lights were still
on!
B: Oh, is that so?
A: Yes!
• We sometimes use so in informal speaking to
indicate the size or extent of something.
We use it in a similar way to this and we usually
use hand gestures to show the size or extent:
▫ [referring to a valuable diamond in a ring]
It’s about so small.
(or It’s about this small.)
• We also sometimes use so to mean ‘like this’:

▫ Hold the racket in your left hand – so. That’s
right.
• In speaking, we also use so to intensify
words, phrases and clauses. We
stress so quite strongly. This usage is very
common among some younger speakers.
• It has a meaning similar to just or just like:
▫ I’m so not interested.
▫ That’s so Jack. He always behaves like that.
(That’s just like Jack.)
▫ That is so what I don’t want to hear!
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-
grammar/speaking/so

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‘So’ in English Grammar

• We often use so with that:

• We use such not so to modify noun phrases:

• We also use so + adjective or adverb before that-

▫ [discussing whether to eat a pudding or keep it till the following

▫ So, what time does the film start?

• We use the expression is that so? in responses to

• We also sometimes use so to mean ‘like this’:

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