SO & SUCH | Add Emphasis in English!

Video Transcript
Section 1
Hello! Welcome to another lesson here at mmmEnglish. I’m Emma, your English confidence coach and today I’m going to be talking about two small but very important and very common English words: so and such

Now, these two words can be used in a few different ways in English sentences, but in this lesson, we’re going to focus on how they can add emphasis to your sentences. So how we can make the meaning stronger?

• It’s such a nice day!
• Yes, it’s so beautiful outside! You should really get out there.

Often, these words have a meaning that is similar to words like “very” and “really” in English sentences. So they help you to make the meaning of your sentences stronger.

• That dress is very beautiful.
• That dress is so beautiful.
• He is in a very bad mood today.
• He’s in such a bad mood today.

So, how do you use these words effectively in English sentences?

The word “so” is used with an adjective or an adverb.

• It was so windy yesterday.
• “our brother can run so fast!

The word “such” can be used with a noun or a noun phrase. For example:

• It was such a windy day yesterday.
• Your brother is such a fast runner.

So we’re using “such” with the noun but be careful because a noun phrase can actually include adjectives and adverbs in it so you need to look carefully for the noun.

If you simply look at the word following “so” or “such”, you might make a mistake! So be careful!

• I went to a wedding last weekend. And the bride wore such a beautiful dress. The dress was so beautiful.

Now I’m going to give you some examples to practise with.

The next sentence that I read out, I’m going to use the word “so” and I want you to think about how you can change that word slightly, the sentence slightly, so that you can use the word “such” instead. Ready?

• He is so generous.

How can you change it to use “such”? We need a noun.

• He is such a generous man.
• He is such a generous guy.

Another one:

• New York is such a big city.

Got to switch it back now.

• New York is such a big city.

How can you say that sentence using “so”? You need to change it.

• New York is so big!

Another one:

• That is so unlucky!

What’s the noun?

• That is such bad luck!

“Luck” is our noun.

Because I love you and because I want you to practise what you’ve learnt here today, I’ve made a worksheet for you to download and practise with. You can get it from this link up here.

I want you to actually use what you’ve been practising today.

But don’t go get it yet, there is one more thing that I want to explain to you about “so”…

Now the word “so” but not “such” can be used in front of these words:

• So much…
  So many…
  So little…
  So few…

Now all of these words are quantifiers and they’re used with nouns in English sentences. So they help to tell us how much of a noun there is – the amount or quantity of that noun. But I’ve just taught you that you need to use “such” with nouns, so this is a bit of an exception that you need to keep in mind! For example:

• There are so many people here today!
• You have had so much to drink!
• It’s incredible that there has been so little damage after the storm.
• I’m surprised that so few children turned up today.

If you enjoyed this lesson make sure you like it and share it with anyone that you think could do with a bit of extra help with their English grammar!!

And don’t forget to download your worksheet up here. I want you to practise using what you’ve learnt today.

If you’re a subscriber, it’s so awesome to see you again! If you’re not a subscriber yet, then click this button here so you that can join us in our next lesson together!

There are lots more grammar lessons, like this one on my channel, like that one. And there are also lots of other lessons that can help you to practise your speaking skills, your pronunciation skills and boost your confidence as an English speaker, just like that one.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and that I get to see you again next time!

Bye for now.