so

[thru]

Hi,
Does so sound natural in the example here?

Tom:How is your English class?
Jessie: Sometimes it's so interesting and sometimes it's so boring!

Thanks a lot.

[bhaisahab]

Hi,
Does so sound natural in the example here?

Tom:How is your English class?
Jessie: Sometimes it's so interesting and sometimes it's so boring!

Thanks a lot.

Yes, it's OK.

[thru]

Hi,

Here are some more examples:

1.Tome: Why are you very/ so nervous?
Lucy: There is a cockroach on the desk.

Does very sound natural in the example above?
Do so and very mean the same here?

2.Tom: Are you free now?
Lucy: No, I am very/ so busy.

Does so sound fine here in example 2?

Thanks a lot.

[Raymott]

Hi,

Here are some more examples:

1.Tome: Why are you very/ so nervous?
Lucy: There is a cockroach on the desk.

Does very sound natural in the example above? No
Do so and very mean the same here? They would have a similar meaning, but "very" would be unnatural; no one would say it in this situation, so the comparison is pointless.

2.Tom: Are you free now?
Lucy: No, I am very/ so busy.

Does so sound fine here in example 2? No, Lucy would almost certainly say "very". But it would depend on the intonation, the social context, the previous arrangement that Tom seems to be hinting at, whether Lucy intends to say something further, etc.

Thanks a lot.

R.

[thru]

Thanks for your reply.
Could you also tell me why 'very' in example 1 isn't fine and 'so' doesn't work in example 2?

[bhaisahab]

Thanks for your reply.
Could you also tell me why 'very' in example 1 isn't fine and 'so' doesn't work in example 2?

Because they are not natural as Raymott indicated. Native speakers don't use them that way.

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=thru;838422]

Tom: Are you free now?
Lucy: No, I am very/ so busy.

Does so sound fine here in example 2


NOT A TEACHER


(1) The moderator and the teacher have both given us learners excellent answers.

(2) As those gentlemen told us, "very" would be the usual answer.

(3) But "so" could be correct in informal English if you pronounced the words

"so busy" very strongly:

Tom: Are you free to have coffee with me now?

Mona: I would love to, but I am SO BUSY! (that I absolutely cannot leave now)

(4) One expert gives this example:

This new cheese is very good,/ This new cheese is SO GOOD! (MY NOTE, not the

expert's: This cheese is so good that I do not want to stop eating it.)

Source: L. G. Alexander, Longman English Grammar.

[thru]

Hi,
Thanks all of you for your kind answers.
Here are some more examples:

1. Tom: Are you free now?
Lucy: No, I'm very busy.
Tom: Why are you always so/very busy?
Lucy: Because my mother is sick.
Do so and very sound natural in 'why are you always so/very busy?

2. Which can I use or better if I want to apologize to someone in the sentence?
"I'm very/so sorry."

3."We are so/very glad you could come!"

4."You made me very/so happy."

Do very and so sound fine in example 3 & 4?

[thru]

Would anyone please help me?

[Barb_D]

Perhaps "so" is used when the situation is unusually different from the norm.

I'm usually busy at work. I'm usually VERY busy at work. That's normal. But when there are big projects coming due at the same time, I'm might say "Ugh! I'm so busy at work these days, I barely have time for lunch!"

That big spider could be why she is acting "so" nervous, even if she is a nervous person normally.