So...That & Such...That
Level B1 · Conjunctions & Linking Words
so...that and such...that both link a quality or quantity to its result: the first half names how strong something is, and that + clause names what happened because of it. It was so cold that the lake froze — the cold (so cold) caused a result (the lake froze). The two patterns say the same kind of thing but attach to different parts of speech.
Choose the pattern based on what comes right after it:
- so + adjective/adverb + that: It was so cold that the lake froze; She spoke so quietly that I couldn't hear her.
- so + many/much/few/little + noun + that: There were so many people that we couldn't move; He had so little time that he skipped lunch.
- such + (a/an) + adjective + noun + that: It was such a cold day that the lake froze; They are such generous people that everyone loves them.
- that is often dropped in everyday speech, especially after so: It was so cold (that) the lake froze — the meaning doesn't change.
The choice between so and such depends purely on what directly follows: so goes with an adjective/adverb alone or with many/much/few/little, while such goes with a noun phrase (with or without an adjective in front of it) — such a book, such interesting books, but so interesting a book only in quite formal, old-fashioned style.
The most common mistake is using such directly before an adjective with no noun: such cold is wrong — such always needs a noun somewhere in the phrase (such cold weather); if there's no noun, so is the only option (so cold). A second frequent error: putting a/an in the wrong place with such — such a interesting book is wrong because interesting starts with a vowel sound, but more importantly a always sits right before the noun phrase, after such, not scattered elsewhere: such an interesting book.
Look for so directly before an adjective, adverb, or many/much/few/little, and such directly before a noun phrase (with its own article and adjective already in the normal order) — both followed by that + a clause describing the result.