Tricky point ~47 min of the core left

Review 5 (lessons 25–29)

Start the lesson Core 47 min · steps: 3 · optional: +1

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Tricky point

12 min

"It was very cold, and because of that we stayed at home." "The day was very long, and because of that I fell asleep at once." In German, French, Spanish and Italian one word often does both jobs here: German so kalt and so ein kalter Tag, Spanish tan frío and un día tan frío, Italian così freddo and una giornata così fredda. English has two words — so and such — and the choice between them depends not on the meaning but on what comes next.

The form. so + an adjective or an adverb; such + a noun, with or without an adjective. The result is joined with that.

It was so cold that we stayed at home. so + adjective
He spoke so quickly that I couldn't follow. so + adverb
It was such a cold day that we stayed at home. such a + adjective + noun
They were such nice people that we stayed all evening. such + plural
We had such bad weather that we came home early. such + uncountable

The rule in one line: if a noun comes after the word, it is such; if only an adjective or an adverb comes, it is so. Don't check it by translating from your language: there the word may be the same for so and such, or it may stand without a noun. What decides is whether an English noun comes after it — and if there is none, it is so: He's so kind.

The article. With a singular countable noun, a comes after such: such a nice day, such an interesting book. Before a plural or an uncountable noun there is no article: such nice people, such good news, such bad weather.

so with quantity. Before much, many, few, little it is always so, even though a noun follows: There were so many people that we couldn't get in. I had so little time that I took a taxi. The reason is that so stands here before a word of quantity, not before the noun. Instead of so many and so much, people also say such a lot of in conversation: There were such a lot of people…

You can leave out that. In conversation that often disappears: It was so cold we stayed in. It was such a good film I watched it twice.

In questions and negatives the rule is the same: Why are you so tired? I've never seen such a beautiful garden. No comma before that: the result is closely joined to the first part.

How to say it. so and such are stressed in these sentences — the whole idea rests on them: It was SO cold…, It was SUCH a long day…. And that is unstressed: /ðət/. If you take the stress away, the sentence sounds like a plain statement with no emphasis.

Without a result — an exclamation. so and such make a word stronger by themselves too, without that: It's so cold today! She's such a nice person! This is more emotional than very: very gives information, while so and such exclaim.

Compare with too (A1 #18) and enough (A2 #13):

It was so cold that we didn't go out. very cold — and the result is named
It was too cold to go out. colder than is OK for going out
It wasn't warm enough to go out. going out needed more warmth

The meaning is close, but so … that tells what happened, while too … to tells what was not possible.

More examples:

The coffee was so hot that I burnt my tongue. the hot coffee hurt my tongue
It was such a long journey that we stopped twice. the journey was long, so we stopped twice
The film was so boring that half the audience left. the film was boring, so half the people went out
She speaks such good English that people think she's British. her English is very good, and people take her for a British woman
I was so tired that I fell asleep on the train. I was very tired, and I slept on the train

Don't say this. ✗ It was so cold weather → ✓ It was such cold weather / The weather was so cold. ✗ a such nice day → ✓ such a nice day. ✗ so much people → ✓ so many people.

Check yourself. so or such: It was ___ a good idea? There were a lot of people at the place, and because of that you couldn't get in. How do you say it in one sentence? What is wrong with It was a such boring film?

show the answers
such; There were so many people that we couldn't get in; a comes after such: It was such a boring film.
Advertisement

Exercises on lessons 25–29

35 min

1. Mixed gap fill.

  1. Most the people in my street have a car
  2. I've got friends here, so I'm never lonely. (some, not many)
  3. The lecture was really (bore)
  4. She's very good languages
  5. It all depends the weather
  6. Could you speak (slowly), please?
  7. It's (possible) to park here. (with a negative prefix)
  8. It was a nice day that we walked home
Show the answers
of; a few / some / several; boring; at; on; more slowly; impossible; such

2. Put in

  1. It was cold that the lake froze
  2. They're nice people!
  3. There were many cars that we couldn't park
  4. It was an interesting book that I read it in a day
  5. He drove fast that the police stopped him
  6. We had bad weather that the flight was cancelled
Show the answers
so; such; so; such; so; such

3. Error correction.

  1. Most of students in my group work.
  2. None of them didn't come.
  3. I was very interesting in the lecture.
  4. We discussed about the plan.
  5. Can you explain me this word?
  6. He speaks well English.
  7. There's a big different between them.
  8. It was so cold weather that we stayed at home.
Show the answers
Most students in my group work / Most of the students in my group work; None of them came; I was very interested in the lecture; We discussed the plan; Can you explain this word to me?; He speaks English well; There's a big difference between them; It was such cold weather that we stayed at home / The weather was so cold that we stayed at home

4. Join the two sentences into one

  1. The coffee was very hot. I couldn't drink it.
  2. It was a very long film. I fell asleep.
  3. She spoke very quietly. Nobody heard her.
  4. They were very friendly people. We stayed all evening.
  5. There were a lot of people. We couldn't get in.
Show the answers
The coffee was so hot that I couldn't drink it / The coffee was so hot I couldn't drink it; It was such a long film that I fell asleep / It was such a long film I fell asleep; She spoke so quietly that nobody heard her / She spoke so quietly nobody heard her; They were such friendly people that we stayed all evening / They were such friendly people we stayed all evening; There were so many people that we couldn't get in / There were such a lot of people that we couldn't get in / There were so many people we couldn't get in

5. Rewrite

  1. All the students passed. (none)
  2. I was bored by the film. (the film + an adjective in -ing)
  3. I'm waiting for Tom. (a question with who)
  4. The instructions were not clear. (one word with a prefix)
Show the answers
None of the students passed; The film was boring; Who are you waiting for?; The instructions were unclear

6. Say it in English.

Each line describes a situation in simple words. Say it with the forms of lessons 25–30. 1) There are ten people in your team at work. Seven of them don't live in the city — they live in villages around it. 2) The lecture went on for three hours, and there was nothing interesting in it for you. Say how you felt and why. 3) A friend asks: "Will you buy that car?" Your answer will be decided by how much it costs. 4) You and a woman you know both drive. She pays more attention on the road than you. Compare her driving with yours. 5) The day was very good, and because of that, at the end of it nobody in your group wanted to go home. Say it in one sentence about the day.

Show the answers
Most of my colleagues live outside the city / Most of my colleagues live out of town; I was bored because the lecture was very long; It depends on the price; She drives more carefully than me / She drives more carefully than I do; It was such a good day that we didn't want to go home
Advertisement

Summary

Covered

  • lessons 25–29 in full and so … that
  • such … that

Next — lesson 31: say when and how often it will happen.

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 103

optional

Mini production

Talk aloud and then write down ten sentences: about your group or your team; a review of something you bought recently; what your summer plans depend on; how you do something compared with other people; a time when something went wrong. At least one sentence with so … that and one with such … that.

Checklist before lesson 31:

  • of only before the, my, these or a pronoun?
  • no not after none and neither, and neither only about two?
  • -ed — about a person, -ing — about what causes the feeling?
  • the preposition from the English list, no preposition after discuss and enter, explain … to me?
  • the adverb not between the verb and the object, long ones with more?
  • do the prefix and the suffix give the word you need, is the spelling at the join right?
  • so before an adjective, such a before a noun?
The draft is saved on this device
Advertisement

Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

Got a feature idea?

Send idea
Advertisement
Advertisement