SO + adjective + THAT clause – English Grammar Profiler

The degree adverb = SO

can be used before an adjective followed by a (that) clause

so adjective that is used to explain the reasons for feelings.  In the following example, I shared something before, and now I am happy as a result:

I‘m so glad that I got to share this with you.

listen

In other words: I’m so glad because I got …

But the structure can also be followed by a result that indicates that something happens to a certain extreme point.  In the following example, I’m very happy about this new website that I found:

I’m so glad that I shared it with all my friends.

In other words: I shared it because I was so glad to find it. OR I’m so glad, so I shared it.

In summary, the that clause in the first example answers WHY, and in the second example, it answers HOW HAPPY or to WHAT DEGREE.

Here’s a very advanced example about the degree of adjectives:

But l would ask you, assembled here in this house of God, to recognize that we are witnessing something new, 

something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the government is at a loss.

listen

An iWeb search for so+adjective+that examples can be done with:

so _J that * *

1 SO GLAD THAT I DID 776 2 SO HAPPY THAT I FOUND 449

3 SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE 424

4 SO GLAD THAT I FOUND 419 5 SO CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL 323 6 SO SMALL THAT IT IS 320 7 SO HAPPY THAT I DID 319 8 SO BAD THAT I HAD 299 9 SO BAD THAT I COULD 287 10 SO POWERFUL THAT IT CAN 282 11 SO LONG THAT IT ‘S 275 12 SO GRATEFUL THAT I FOUND 272 13 SO THANKFUL THAT I FOUND 261 14 SO HAPPY THAT YOU ARE 251 15 SO SORRY THAT YOU ARE 241

16 SO LARGE THAT IT IS 226

17 SO BLESSED THAT I FOUND 221 18 SO BAD THAT I WAS 214

19 SO POPULAR THAT IT WAS 209

20 SO SMALL THAT THEY CAN 205

21 SO GLAD THAT YOU HAVE 202

22 SO SMALL THAT THEY ARE 191

23 SO STRONG THAT IT CAN 185

24 SO SMALL THAT IT CAN 179 25 SO GOOD THAT IT ‘S 175

26 SO GLAD THAT YOU ENJOYED 171

27 SO HAPPY THAT I WAS 168

28 SO GLAD THAT I HAVE 167

29 SO BAD THAT IT ‘S 165 30 SO GREAT THAT IT IS 163

31 SO LOW THAT IT IS 163

32 SO LONG THAT IT IS 161 33 SO BAD THAT IT WAS 158 34 SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN 156 35 SO BAD THAT I HAVE 155 36 SO HAPPY THAT YOU HAVE 155

37 SO HIGH THAT IT IS 149

38 SO SMALL THAT IT ‘S 146

39 SO POPULAR THAT IT HAS 143

40 SO BAD THAT I CA 142

41 SO STRONG THAT IT IS 139

42 SO EXCITED THAT YOU ARE 138 43 SO IMPORTANT THAT IT IS 137 44 SO VERSATILE THAT YOU CAN 135 45 SO BAD THAT I WOULD 134

46 SO GLAD THAT I WAS 134

47 SO CONFIDENT THAT YOU ‘LL 130

48 SO GLAD THAT WE DID 128

49 SO SORRY THAT YOU HAVE 128 50 SO SUCCESSFUL THAT IT WAS 125 51 SO LONG THAT I DO 124 52 SO GOOD THAT YOU CAN 123 53 SO POPULAR THAT IT IS 122 54 SO POWERFUL THAT THEY CAN 122 55 SO HAPPY THAT I HAVE 121 56 SO BAD THAT IT IS 118 57 SO LONG THAT THEY ARE 118

58 SO GLAD THAT I HAD 114

59 SO EASY THAT YOU CAN 114 60 SO LONG THAT IT WAS 112 61 SO LONG THAT IT HAS 111 62 SO GOOD THAT I HAD 109 63 SO BLESSED THAT I DISCOVERED 109

64 SO GLAD THAT I AM 108

65 SO GRATEFUL THAT I HAVE 108 66 SO LONG THAT THEY HAVE 108 67 SO BIG THAT IT ‘S 105

68 SO HIGH THAT IT ‘S 105

69 SO GLAD THAT I DECIDED 104

70 SO GLAD THAT YOU WERE 103 71 SO VERSATILE THAT IT CAN 103 72 SO SMALL THAT IT DOES 102

73 SO LARGE THAT IT WOULD 101

74 SO GREAT THAT IT CAN 100 75 SO GREAT THAT IT WAS 99 76 SO GOOD THAT I HAVE 98

77 SO STRONG THAT THEY CAN 97

78 SO SUCCESSFUL THAT IT HAS 97

79 SO LARGE THAT IT WAS 95

80 SO GOOD THAT IT IS 94

81 SO LOW THAT YOU CAN 93

82 SO STRONG THAT IT WAS 93 83 SO COMMON THAT IT IS 91 84 SO HAPPY THAT YOU ENJOYED 91 85 SO SORRY THAT YOU HAD 91 86 SO BIG THAT IT IS 90

87 SO LOW THAT IT ‘S 89

88 SO BAD THAT I CAN 88

89 SO STRONG THAT YOU CAN 87

90 SO BAD THAT YOU CAN 85 91 SO BAD THAT YOU CA 85 92 SO HAPPY THAT I CAN 85 93 SO GREAT THAT HE WAS 84

94 SO LARGE THAT IT CAN 84

95 SO GOOD THAT I COULD 83 96 SO LOW THAT IT WAS 83 97 SO BAD THAT I DID 82

98 SO LARGE THAT THEY ARE 82

99 SO POPULAR THAT IT ‘S 82
100 SO GOOD THAT I DO 81

A2 vocabulary:

could, decided, glad, high, large, low, popular, so, strong

B1:

common, confident, discovered, grateful, powerful, successful

Also, note that you can also use “so + adverb + that” to modify verbs. For example:

  • He ran so fast that he won the race.
  • She sings so beautifully that everyone applauds.

Finally, sometimes, you can omit the word “that” in these phrases, but it is more common to keep it

EXPERT EXAMPLE:

How often is the context so ambiguous 

that a series simply must have a comma before the final “and”?

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