QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!
Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Idioms about so
Origin of so
1before 900; Middle English; Old English swā; cognate with Dutch zoo,German so,Gothic swa
synonym study for so
10. See therefore.
usage note for so
5. The intensive so meaning “very or extremely” ( Everything's so expensive these days ) occurs chiefly in informal speech. In writing and formal speech, intensive so is most often followed by a completing that clause: Everything is so expensive that some families must struggle just to survive.
19, 20. The conjunction so (often followed by that ) introduces clauses both of purpose ( We ordered our tickets early so that we could get good seats ) and of result ( The river had frozen during the night so people walked across it all the next day ). In formal speech and writing, so that is somewhat more common than so in clauses of purpose. Otherwise, either so or so that is standard.
Like and, but1 , and or, so can occur as a transitional word at the beginning of a sentence: So all our hard work finally brought results. See also as1, and, but1.
19, 20. The conjunction so (often followed by that ) introduces clauses both of purpose ( We ordered our tickets early so that we could get good seats ) and of result ( The river had frozen during the night so people walked across it all the next day ). In formal speech and writing, so that is somewhat more common than so in clauses of purpose. Otherwise, either so or so that is standard.
Like and, but1 , and or, so can occur as a transitional word at the beginning of a sentence: So all our hard work finally brought results. See also as1, and, but1.
Words nearby so
Other definitions for so (2 of 6)
Other definitions for so (3 of 6)
Other definitions for so (4 of 6)
s.o.
abbreviation
seller's option.
shipping order.
Other definitions for so (5 of 6)
So.
abbreviation
South.
Southern.
Other definitions for so (6 of 6)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use so in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for so (1 of 5)
Word Origin for so
Old English swā; related to Old Norse svā, Old High German sō, Dutch zoo
usage for so
In formal English, so is not used as a conjunction, to indicate either purpose (he left by a back door so he could avoid photographers) or result (the project was abandoned so his services were no longer needed). In the former case to or in order to should be used instead, and in the latter case and so or and therefore would be more acceptable. The expression so therefore should not be used
British Dictionary definitions for so (2 of 5)
British Dictionary definitions for so (3 of 5)
so3
the internet domain name for
Somalia
British Dictionary definitions for so (4 of 5)
SO
abbreviation for
Somalia (international car registration)
British Dictionary definitions for so (5 of 5)
S.O.
/ baseball /
abbreviation for
strike out
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with so
so
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.