This sentence pattern is used to show cause and effect relationship between the ideas.

Study the examples: 1) He was so lazy that he couldnt even get up at eight in the morning. 2) The car was so fast that we couldnt read the plate. 3) Ms. elen has been such an impressive teacher that I decided to become an English teacher. 4) The party is so boring that I think most of the people will leave soon. 5) We have so little money that I dont think we can eat in a restaurant. 6) There were so few students in the classroom that I had to repeat the same lesson. 7) The exam was so difficult that nobody passed. 8) I was driving so slowly up the hill that the other drivers behind me began to protest. 9) My students studied so hard that all of them passed the final exam. 10) It was such a moving film that I cried in the end.

Now lets take some examples and focus on their meaning: Sentence 2, for example, can be rewritten as We couldnt read the plate because the car was very fast. Sentence 6 can be rewritten as There were very few students in the classroom so I had to repeat the same lesson. Therefore, we can say that [sothat; such that.] pattern shows cause and effect relationship between ideas.

The Rule: so + adjective/adverb + that (sentences 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9) such + noun phrase + that (sentences 3, 10) so + few/little/many/much + noun + that (sentences 5, 6)

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Exercises Rewrite the following sentences using sothat; such.that pattern.

1) I look after a lot of cats in the street, so I have to buy more than 30 kilos of cat food every month. 2) They spent a lot of money on their house repair, so they needed to get a bank loan to pay their card bills. 3) The other drivers behind me began to protest blowing their horns because I was driving very slowly up the hill. 4) If I had enough money, I would buy that ring for my wife. 5) She spoke very softly, so we couldnt hear her very well. 6) The lecture was very boring. All the students fell asleep. 7) She ate very little. She got thinner than ever before. 8) If the weather hadnt been so hot, we would have lain on the beach longer. 9) If the cruise ticket to the Caribbeans wasnt so expensive, we would buy it. 10) It was a very good book. I couldnt put it down. 11) John is difficult to understand because he speaks so quickly. 12) Istanbul is a very crowded city. The house rents are among the highest in the world. 13) I was very tired, so I went to bed very early. 14) The film wasnt very interesting. We left the cinema before it ended. 15) The weather was very beautiful. The children didnt want to get in from the garden.

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Suggested answer key

1) I look after so many cats in the street that I have to buy more than 30 kilos of cat food every month. 2) They spent so much money on their house repair that they needed to get a bank loan to pay their credit card bills. 3) I was driving so slowly up to hill that the other drivers behind me started to protest blowing their horns. 4) I had so little money that I didnt / couldnt buy that ring for my wife. 5) She spoke so slowly that we couldnt hear her very well. 6) The lecture was so boring that all the students fell asleep. 7) She ate so little that she got thinner than ever before. 8) The weather was so hot that we didnt lie on the beach much longer. 9) The cruise ticket to the Caribbeans is so expensive that we wont buy it. 10) It was such a good book that I couldnt put it down. OR The book was so good that I couldnt put it down. 11) John speaks so quickly that he is difficult to understand. 12) Istanbul is such a crowded city that the house rents are among the highest in the world. 13) I was so tired that I went to bed very early. 14) The film was so boring that OR It was such a boring film that we left the cinema before it ended. 15) The weather was so beautiful that OR It was such beautiful weather that the children didnt want to get in from the garden.

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