So and Such

We often use ‘so’ and ‘such’ to mean ‘very’ or ‘really’. It makes the sentence stronger and shows that there is a high level of something.​

​We use ‘so’ before an adjective or adverb (without a noun).

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1. She was so beautiful (= she was very beautiful).

2. He ran so quickly (= he ran very quickly).

3. The food was so delicious (= the food was really delicious).

4. The children spoke French so well (= the children spoke French very well).

​We use ‘such’ before a noun or an adjective + a noun. If there is ‘a’ or ‘an’, it goes after ‘such’.

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1. She was such a beautiful woman (= she was a very beautiful woman).

   NOT: ‘she was a so beautiful woman’.

   NOT: ‘she was a such beautiful woman’.

2. He got such a good time in the race (= he got a very good time in the race).

3. It was such delicious food (= it was really delicious food).

4. The children spoke such good French (= the children spoke really good French).

​When we use ‘such’ directly with a noun, it’s often a noun that shows our opinion.

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1. He’s such a genius! (= he’s a real genius / he’s very clever).

2. You’re such a teacher! (= you act in a typical way for a teacher).

​We don’t use a word like ‘this’ or ‘those’ or ‘your’ or ‘his’ before ‘so’ and ‘such’. ‘So’ and ‘such’ come directly after the verb.

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1. NOT: This so beautiful city. (Instead say ‘this city is so beautiful’.)

2. NOT: Your so helpful friend. (Instead say ‘your friend is so helpful’.)

​We can use ‘so … that …’ and ‘such … that …’ to show that there is a certain result. (We can’t use ‘very’ or ‘really’ in this way.)

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1. It was so cold that the pond froze (= because it was very cold, the pond froze).

2. She felt so tired that she fell asleep on the train (= because she was very tired, she fell asleep on the train).

3. It was such an expensive meal that he didn’t spend any money for the rest of the month (= because it was a very expensive meal, he didn’t spend any money for the rest of the month).

4. They have such a lot of books that they need to store some of them in the garage (= because they have really a lot of books, they need to store some of them in the garage).