How to Use the Word “SO”

How to Use the Word “SO”

Hello, dear English learners! Welcome to another lesson. Today we’re looking at the little word so, which can be both an adverb and a conjunction. It’s a simple word, but it appears everywhere in English — and once you understand its uses, your speaking and writing become much more natural.

I’ll guide you through the main ways to use so, with plenty of example sentences to help you learn in context.

1. So as an adverb

So means to such a great extent or very.

• Fiona was so overwhelmed with emotion when she saw her friend.
• The children were so upset by the news that they started to cry.
• Mary loved her husband so much that she couldn’t imagine life without him.
• Thank you for your email — we’re so pleased to hear from you.
• I have to go home; I have so much work to do.

2. So as a conjunction (showing result)

We use so to connect two clauses and introduce the result.

• I couldn’t sleep last night, so I got up and made a cup of warm milk.
• Steve couldn’t focus on his studying, so he decided to take a break.
• I heard it was going to rain, so I took my umbrella.
• There were no available rooms in the hotel, so we had to sleep in the car.
• Yvonne had a day off, so she visited some friends in Cambridge.

3. Not so…as for comparison

We use not so…as to show that something is less of a degree.

• Learning Italian isn’t so difficult as I imagined.
• Brian couldn’t swim so fast as his friend.
• Fishing is not so much a hobby as an interest to me.
• Living with teenagers is not so easy as people think.
• They grow coffee in Mexico, but not so much as in Brazil.

4. So to refer back to something previously mentioned

• “Do you think they’re going to win the election?” — “I think so.”
• They thought it was raining, but when they came outside, they realised it wasn’t so.
• It’s meant to be warm and sunny this weekend. If so, we could go for a picnic.
• “Tom said you’re a painter.” — “Is that so?”
• They told me to fill in the application form, and I did so.

5. So meaning “also”

This structure copies the auxiliary verb for agreement.

• Tom regretted eating lasagna after 10, and so did his wife.
• Our little town has changed a lot, and so have the people.
• “We insist on knowing what’s going on.” — “So do I.”
• If I can learn to dive, so can you.
• My sister is going on holiday in June, and so are we.

6. “And so on” / “and so forth”

Use these phrases when you don’t want to list more items of the same type.

• We were sitting by the fire, drinking wine, chatting, and so on.
• I didn’t like the flat. The walls were shabby, some furniture was damaged, and so on.
• The office was full of old boxes, unusable shelves, and so forth.

7. ‘…or so’ meaning ‘approximately’

• There were twenty or so people at the party.
• The trip didn’t take long — an hour or so.
• It was a small village with a hundred or so houses.

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