too.... so as to

Hi,

I was too far away to see the girl.

I would like to know if we can put 'in order to' and 'so as to' instead of 'to' in this structure.

-I was too far away in order to see the girl.

-I was too far away so as to see the girl.

Thanks.

I was too far away in order to see the girl.

This would mean that you chose to be far away because that helped you to actually see the girl.

Your first sentence is what I would use, as far as I'm concerned.

'So as to' indicates an intention or purpose, not a geographical situation. You might say "I was very far away so as to avoid being seen" for example.

Thanks for the answers.

-I was very far away to avoid being seen.

What If I replace 'very' with 'too' ? Does it indicate an intention or purpose, too?

Thanks.

aysaa said:

Thanks for the answers.

-I was very far away to avoid being seen.

What If I replace 'very' with 'too' ? Does it indicate an intention or purpose, too?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

"I was too far away to avoid being seen" is unnatural and I can't imagine a situation where that would actually be possible.

"I was very far away to avoid being seen" is somewhat unnatural. I would expect to hear "I went a long way away (or "very far away") to avoid being seen", with "to" meaning "in order to".