"She studied so hard that ~"

[th.19]

Hello teachers.
I'm sorry to post 2 questions in one day, but I would really appreciate
your help.

The following sentence doesn't seem natural to me, meaning wise.

1. "She studied so hard that she passed the exam."

I would expect something like the following.

2. "She studied so hard that she passed out."


Can sentence 1 stand as is?
If not, what is the difference between sentence 1 and 2 that makes
the latter OK and the former not OK?

Thank you for your help.

[waflob]

I agree with you.

"She studied so hard that *something unexpected* happened".

Passing the exam could well be understood to be the expected outcome and as such, doesn't really fit in with the construct.

Perhaps better would be "She studied hard and passed the exam".

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=th.19;807796]
The following sentence doesn't seem natural to me, meaning wise.

1. "She studied so hard that she passed the exam."


NOT A TEACHER


(1) What an interesting question.

(2) I cannot answer your question, but I just wanted to point out something

quite fascinating:

(a) It is quite true that your sentence does not make sense. We would never

say "I worked so hard that I earned a lot of money."

(b) But if we rearranged the words, then the sentences are perfectly logical:

She studied hard, so that she passed the examination. (a clause of result)

She is studying hard so that she will pass the exam tomorrow. (purpose)

I worked hard, so that I made a lot of money. (result)

I work hard so that I can make a lot of money. (purpose)


P.S. I wish to credit Professor George O. Curme's book for teaching me the use of "so that," including when I use a comma with the conjunction "so that" and when I do not.

[th.19]

Thank you to the both of you for your replies --- <so ~ that "something unexpected" happened> makes a lot of sense.

And it is weird how when you use <~, so that ~>, it makes perfect sense.

English is such a difficult language, isn't it?


Thank you once again!