SO [USE OF]
So + adjective (so difficult), so + adverb (so slowly)
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 also use so as an intensifier to mean ‘very, very’:
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.
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 as a substitute form
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.)
o and not with expect, hope, think, etc.
So and not with expect, hope, think, etc.
We can use so after some verbs instead of repeating an
object clause, especially in short answers.
The verbs we do this with most are: appear, assume, be
afraid (meaning ‘regret’), believe, expect, guess, hope,
imagine, presume, reckon, seem, suppose, think:
Chris thinks the tickets are too expensive, and
Madeline thinks so too.
(… and Madeline thinks the tickets are expensive.)
A:
Are you working on Saturday?
B:
I’m afraid so. I wish I wasn’t! (I’m afraid I’m working.)
A:
D’you think the weather’s going to be fine tomorrow?
B:
I hope so. I want to do some work in the garden. (I hope
the weather’s going to be fine.)
We can use not after be afraid, guess,
hope and suppose instead of using a negative object
clause:
A:
Can we speak to Mr Brindley, please?
B:
I’m afraid not. He’s busy. (I’m afraid you cannot speak to
Mr Brindley.)
A:
It looks as if Louis won’t be coming with us after all.
B:
I guess not. It’s a pity.
She thinks she might lose her job in the New Year, but
she hopes not.
With believe, expect and think, we normally use
auxiliary do + not + main verb + so:
A:
Did Frances come here this morning?
B:
I don’t believe so. Ask Hannah.
They asked Wilma if she thought her mother would refuse
the invitation. She said she didn’t think so.
We can find believe not, expect not and think not in
classic literature and in very formal situations, but it is
not common in everyday modern English:
[from the novel Dombey and Son (1848) by Charles
Dickens]
‘He is in England, I hope, aunt?’ said the child.
‘I believe so. Yes; I know he is, indeed.’
‘Has he ever been here?’
‘I believe not. No.’
Are we prepared to change our entire lives for the sake of
one person? I think not.
Typical errors
• We don’t use so + object clause together:
A:
Is George coming today?
B:
I don’t think so.
Not: I don’t think so he’s coming today.
• We don’t say I think or I don’t think without so in short
answers:
A:
Is next Monday a public holiday?
B:
Yes, I think so.
Not: Yes, I think.
