I Show Səʊ True Good Adverb Angry Worry

• don't look so angry.
• there's no need to worry so.
• why has it taken so long?
• that wasn't so bad, was it?

so

1. to such a great degree
• Don't look so angry.
• There's no need to worry so.
• Why has it taken so long?
• That wasn't so bad, was it?
• She spoke so quietly (that) I could hardly hear her.
• What is it that's so important it can't wait five minutes?
• He was so impressed that he jumped up and down with excitement.
• She gets so caught up in her fame that she neglects her true friends.
• It was so incredibly cheap it was unbelievable.
• I'm not so stupid as to believe that.
• Would you be so kind as to lock the door when you leave?
2. very; extremely
• I'm so glad to see you.
• The girls looked so pretty in their summer dresses.
• I was pleased that so many people turned up.
• We have so much to do.
• It's so good to have you back.
• We've worked so hard to get to this point.
• They came so close to winning.
• You're going to Harvard! That's so great!
• Their attitude is so very English.
• The article was just so much (= nothing but) nonsense.
• I am so pleased with this new book.
• He sat there ever so quietly.
• I do love it so.
3. not to the same degree
• I haven't enjoyed myself so much for a long time.
• I have never felt so humiliated in my entire life.
• It wasn't so good as last time.
• It's not so easy as you'd think.
• He was not so quick a learner as his brother.
• It's not so much a hobby as a career (= more like a career than a hobby).
• Off she went without so much as (= without even) a ‘goodbye’.
4. used to show the size, amount or number of something
• The fish was about so big (= said when using your hands to show the size).
• There are only so many (= only a limited number of) hours in a day.
5. used to refer back to something that has already been mentioned
• ‘Is he coming?’ ‘I hope so.’
• ‘Did they mind?’ ‘I don't think so.’
• If she notices, she never says so.
• I might be away next week. If so, I won't be able to see you.
• We are very busy—so much so that we won't be able to take time off this year.
• Programs are expensive, and even more so if you have to keep altering them.
• I hear that you're a writer—is that so (= is that true)?
• George is going to help me, or so he says (= that is what he says but I am not sure if I believe him).
• They asked me to call them and I did so (= I called).
• She leaked the story to the media and, in so doing, helped bring down the president.
• He thinks I dislike him but that just isn't so.
6. also
• Times have changed and so have I.
• ‘I prefer the first version.’ ‘So do we.’
• Temperatures are rising in Canada, and so too are the annual blueberry harvests.
7. used to agree that something is true, especially when you are surprised
• ‘You were there, too.’ ‘So I was—I'd forgotten.’
• ‘There's another one.’ ‘So there is.’
8. used, often with a negative, before adjectives and noun phrases to emphasize something that you are saying
• He is so not the right person for you.
• That is so not cool.
9. used, especially by children, to say that what somebody says is not the case and the opposite is true
• ‘You're not telling the truth, are you?’ ‘I am, so!’
10. used when you are showing somebody how to do something or telling them how something happened
• Stand with your arms out, so.
• So it was that he finally returned home.
11. used at the end of a list to show that it continues in the same way
• We discussed everything—when to go, what to see and so on.
12. used to give an important extra reason why something is true
• His achievement is remarkable; all the more so because he had no help at all.
13. used after a number, an amount, etc. to show that it is not exact
• There were twenty or so (= about twenty) people there.
• We stayed for an hour or so.
14. with the intention of doing something
• We went early so as to get good seats.
15. used to show that you accept something and will not try to change it or cannot change it
• If he doesn't want to be involved, then so be it.
16. used to show that you have finished talking about something
• So much for the situation in Germany. Now we turn our attention to France.
17. used to suggest that something has not been successful or useful
• So much for that idea!
18. in such a way that
• The programme has been so organized that none of the talks overlap.

Word Origin

• adverb Old English swā, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zo and German so.