[Answered] "so nice weather" or "such nice weather"?

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Renfei

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Hello everyone,

It is a multiple choice question:

- What a beautiful day!
- Yes, it's _____ that I'd like to go out for a walk.
(A) so nice weather
(B) such nice weather.

The key is (B), but why (A) is wrong?

Thanks in advance! :)
 
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5jj

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We can say either "The weather is so nice that ..." or "It is such nice weather that ...". We use 'such' before a noun (or adjective + noun) and 'so' before an adjective with no following noun.
 

Renfei

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We can say either "The weather is so nice that ..." or "It is such nice weather that ...". We use 'such' before a noun (or adjective + noun) and 'so' before an adjective with no following noun.

Thanks. But I am familiar with sentences like "He is so nice a boy." In this sentence 'so' is used before an adjective and a noun. Is it actually wrong or they are different cases?
 

5jj

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With 'so' followed by an adjective, we can have a noun, but only if that noun is preceded by the indefinite article a/an.
 

Renfei

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With 'so' followed by an adjective, we can have a noun, but only if that noun is preceded by the indefinite article a/an.

So a/an is the key. I can't say something like "He is so nice a boy" when the noun is uncountable. Am I right?

Regarding the very first question, can I say "It's so interesting a book that I can't stop reading it" ?

Thanks again.
 

Barb_D

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I realize how weird these rules sound.
Since "weather" isn't countable, you can't use "a" with it.

So these are possible. Look at the word order carefully:

The day was so nice that we took a walk at lunch.
It was such a nice day that we took a walk at lunch. But NOT "It was such nice a day," and not "It was a such nice day."
It was so nice a day that we took a walk at lunch.
 

Barb_D

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So a/an is the key. I can't say something like "He is so nice a boy" when the noun is uncountable. Am I right?

Regarding the very first question, can I say "It's so interesting a book that I can't stop reading it" ?

Thanks again.

You've got it.l
It's so interesting a book that...
It's such an interesting book that...
The book is so interesting that...

All okay.
 

Renfei

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I see. Thanks, Barb and 5jj!
 

5jj

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I see. Thanks, Barb and 5jj!
:up:

I appreciate your making the effort to thank us (and I am sure that Barb does), but it's easier if you just click on the 'Like' at the bottom right of the message concerned. If you write a separate thank you, it appears on the list of new posts, and people think that somebody has posted a new answer.

ps (later): Since I wrote that, I see that emsr2d2 has 'liked' my post. She has no real reason to say thanks to me for that post, so , in this particular case, she is almost certainly expressing agreement with what I wrote. 'Thanks' and 'I agree' are just two of the things that 'liking' can express. After you have been around the forum for some time, as I hope you will be, you'll get the feeling of 'liking'.
 
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