Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
At the beginning, I know the grammar of using "so, very and too". I could misuse them sometimes. My question is: is it correct or safe if we use "so" in the place of "very" in all situations, which mean I can use "so" in the place of "very", but I can't use "very" in the place of "so" because, so has more branches. If I got confused between using "so" and "very" as example, using "so" will be safe in all cases. Can I make such a general rule?
Ex:
-This morning is so cold.
-This morning is very cold.
-She is very beautiful.
-She is so beautiful.
-He is very good.
-He is so good.
In the case of "this morning it's very cold", the thought is complete.
In the case of "this morning it's so cold" there is an implied second half. "So" is actually half of the pair "so----that". So what's implied is "this morning it's so cold [that...phrase of your choice here]".
In other words, in both cases "very" and "so" are used as intensifiers, but there is a subtle stylistic difference. To native speakers of American English the subtle sub-meanings are understood, but may not be apparent to a non-native speaker. (I don't know about other varieties of English which is why I specified "American English".) To me the "very cold" version is less intense, more matter of fact, whereas I imagine the "so cold" version being said with more emphasis on the word "so", maybe even with a little imitation shivering and body language to emphasize it even further.
Both are correct and to me neither one has any potentially embarrassing connotations.
In the case of "this morning it's very cold", the thought is complete.
In the case of "this morning it's so cold" there is an implied second half. "So" is actually half of the pair "so----that". So what's implied is "this morning it's so cold [that...phrase of your choice here]".
In other words, in both cases "very" and "so" are used as intensifiers, but there is a subtle stylistic difference. To native speakers of American English the subtle sub-meanings are understood, but may not be apparent to a non-native speaker. (I don't know about other varieties of English which is why I specified "American English".) To me the "very cold" version is less intense, more matter of fact, whereas I imagine the "so cold" version being said with more emphasis on the word "so", maybe even with a little imitation shivering and body language to emphasize it even further.
Both are correct and to me neither one has any potentially embarrassing connotations.
Exactly. The first thing that popped into my mind was the old Johnny Carson classic "It was so cold out this morning I saw a dog stuck to a fire hydrant."
In the case of "this morning it's very cold", the thought is complete.
In the case of "this morning it's so cold" there is an implied second half. "So" is actually half of the pair "so----that". So what's implied is "this morning it's so cold [that...phrase of your choice here]".
In other words, in both cases "very" and "so" are used as intensifiers, but there is a subtle stylistic difference. To native speakers of American English the subtle sub-meanings are understood, but may not be apparent to a non-native speaker. (I don't know about other varieties of English which is why I specified "American English".) To me the "very cold" version is less intense, more matter of fact, whereas I imagine the "so cold" version being said with more emphasis on the word "so", maybe even with a little imitation shivering and body language to emphasize it even further.
Both are correct and to me neither one has any potentially embarrassing connotations.
Yes, your comment is EXACTLY like what mentioned in the rule. When I try to answer some multiple choice exercises about this grammar, I found that there is a case where "so" is being used without "that" like the examples above where the sentence is always ended with a full stop. And one of the option is "Either so or very". Every time I choose one of them is considered wrong. "Either so or very" choice is the only correct answer according to what mentioned. So, according to this, I can conclude that "so" includes very but "very" not include "so".
There is something caught my attention in your comment, I'd like to ask about it but not related with "so"rule. When you rewrote my example above, you wrote it in this way:
"this morning it's very cold" while I wrote it like this" This morning is very cold"
I noticed that you added the pronounce "it" while the pronounce refers to "this morning". That's why I I just put a helping verb without pronounce, I feel like if I want to put "it" I would put a comma after this morning. I'm I wrong?
Thank you very much turf3
Last edited by Authentic Bird; 07-19-2018 at 04:33 PM..
Reason: misspelling
What turf3 wrote is correct. Using "so" kind of implies that there will be more coming in the sentence. But it is certainly acceptable.
I like to use "very". It seems clearer to me. I might also use "really" as an intensifier.
Clear!
According to the rule, there is "so very" term that used for intensifying also but I don't find it used a lot.
Some times, if I want to use an intensifier, I use" very very", this is not existed in English, you just can find it in my own lexical
Thank you very much LilyMae521
Last edited by Authentic Bird; 07-19-2018 at 04:35 PM..
Reason: to add "ing" to a word
Exactly. The first thing that popped into my mind was the old Johnny Carson classic "It was so cold out this morning I saw a dog stuck to a fire hydrant."
Is this idiom or proverb or literature? What does it mean?
Understood it ! I didn't expect "humor". It seemed to me as separate sentences so that I didn't understand the meaning of it.
Thank you harry chickpea for your clarification
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
