Could you kindly tell me whether the use of so in the following
sentence is correct: 'Miles looked older than his brother, revealing
so a strange maturity.' Here so should stand for 'in this way'.
If
so here means 'in this way' or 'thus', it would normally come
immediately after the main clause:
'Miles looked older than his brother, so revealing a
strange maturity.' ('so' = less formal)
'Miles looked older than his brother, thus revealing
a strange maturity.' ('thus' = more formal)
However, if you are using so or such for emphasis to
mean 'to a very great degree or extent', their position immediately
before the adjective is correct.
But take care using these two forms. It has to be such before
a noun or before an adjective plus noun. So it will be:
'Miles looked older than his brother, revealing such
a strange maturity.'
So
is obviously used in a similar way, but is placed before adjectives
standing alone or before adverb plus adjective, thus:
'She was so indescribably beautiful that we couldn't take
our eyes off her.'
Remember:
such + noun
so + adjective
such + adjective + noun
so + adverb + adjective
The noun with such is normally preceded by the indefinite
article:
'We had such a good time at Henry's party.'
'I've been working far too hard today and I've got such
a headache now.'
'She really embarrassed me. She is such a fool.'
Occasionally,
in certain expressions, when the noun has a gradeable meaning, the
indefinite article is dropped:
'Such lovely countryside (around here)!'
'Such awful weather (these days)!'
'We had such fun at Henry's party!'
'I don't know how you have such patience (when dealing with such awkward
customers).'
Frequently heard examples of so in this sense might include:
'I'm so glad you are here!'
'He was so pleased to see her.'
'Don't go so
fast! Slow down!'
'What's so funny about that?'
'I'm so tired! It's as
if I haven't slept for a week.'
'I love you so much!'
You
will already have noticed from at least one of the above examples
that so and such are often followed by 'that'-clauses
suggesting result or consequence. Note that when plural nouns are
used after such, the article is, of course, omitted.
'I'm so
glad (that) you could come!'
'It had been so hot on the journey (that)
we had to drink a litre of water when we arrived home.'
'There was
so much to do on that holiday (that) nobody ever got bored.'
'They
were such good swimmers (that) they had no difficulty swimming across
the fast-flowing river.'
'She prepared such good meals (that) no one
ever thought of going out to eat.'
'I've got such a high temperature
(that) I'm hoping (that) my husband will drive me straight to the
surgery when he gets home from work.'
There
is one exception to the general rule as set out above and that is
that only so can be used with indefinite determiners much
and many and it is more usual with little and few
when these are followed by a noun. We therefore have the new
pattern:
so
+ determiner + noun
'So many sun-worshippers had crowded on to the beach
that there was no space left for my towel.'
'I'm sure there will be so much noise in the restaurant
that I shan't be able to hear what anybody is saying.'
'I had so little rest over the weekend that I couldn't
go to work on Monday morning.'
'There were so few leaves on the tree that it was pointless
to try to shelter from the rain beneath it.'
You cannot say: 'such many sun-worshippers', or 'such much
noise' and it would be unusual to say: 'such few leaves' or
'such little rest'.
Finally
compare:
'Such little people!' ('Little' here is used as an adjective
meaning 'small'.)
'So few people!' ('Few' here is used as a determiner
meaning 'not very many'.)
You
will already have noticed from at least one of the above examples
that 'so' and 'such' are often followed by that-clauses suggesting
result or consequence. Note that when plural nouns are used after
'such', the article is, of course, omitted. 'I'm so glad (that) you
could come!' 'It had been so hot on the journey (that) we had to drink
a litre of water when we arrived home.' 'There was so much to do on
that holiday (that) nobody ever got bored.' 'They were such good swimmers
(that) they had no difficulty swimming across the fast-flowing river.'
'She prepared such good meals (that) no one ever thought of going
out to eat.' 'I've got such a high temperature (that) I'm hoping (that)
my husband will drive me straight to the surgery when he gets home
from work.'
