Confusing words: so, such

In this post we’ll look at so and such, two more words that often cause problems for students of English.

We’ll see a simple rule that tells us whether we need so or such in a sentence. You can then test yourself with the quick exercise below.

Meaning

So and such both show an extreme state:

• He’s so tall.
• It’s so cold today.
• It’s such a big country.
• She’s such a nice lady.

Rule

Here’s the simple rule:

We use so if we follow with just an adjective or adverb.
We use such if we follow with a noun.

Here are some examples to illustrate the rule:

• Chinese is so difficult to learn. ['so' + adjective]
• He always drives so quickly. ['so' + adverb]

• Chinese is such a difficult language to learn.
  [Here we used 'such' because we followed with a noun, 'language'.]

• The weather is so nice today.
  [The noun 'weather' comes at the start of the sentence. We therefore used 'so'.]

• It’s such nice weather today.
  [Here we used 'such' because the noun 'weather' comes later in the sentence.]

! Compare the following two sentences, which mean the same:

• The room was so cold that I had to put my coat on.
• It was such a cold room that I had to put my coat on.

So … that / such … that

When we want to express that the extreme thing or situation has a consequence, we can say
so … that
and
such … that.

The structures are as follows:

so + adjective + that
so + adverb + that
such + adjective + noun + that

Here are some examples:

• He’s so tall that he can’t find clothes to fit him.
  [He's extremely tall; the consequence is that he can't find clothes to fit him.]

• It was so cold that I needed three sweaters and a jacket.
  [The consequence of the cold is that he needed three sweaters.]

• It’s such a big country that it takes the train three days to cross it.
  [The consequence of the extreme distance is that the journey takes a long time.]

So many / so much / so few / so little

We can also use so with many, much, few and little:

• There were so many people in the shopping centre. It was horrible.
• He’s got so much money.
• There are so few teachers in the area that the school has to employ unqualified people.
• I had so little time for lunch that I only managed to finish the soup before I had to leave.

Now try this quick quiz to see how well you can use ‘so’ and ‘such’:

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See more: Confusing Words