so/such beautiful girls

[ademoglu]

Hi.

Michael was gay, so beautiful girls were not of interest to him when they were seeking a partner.

Is it OK to use 'so' in the above sentence or should I use 'such' instead?

 

[Rover_KE]

No—'so' here means 'therefore'.

 

[5jj]

'Such' would make no sense. 'So' here means 'with the result that'.

 

[Glizdka]

I think I know where you're coming from. So is used with adjectives, and such is used with nouns. It's important to remember that this rule applies to so only when it's used as an intensifier.

---

She's so beautiful.
She's such a beautiful girl.

---

When it is used as a conjunction, though, the rule does not apply anymore. It no longer modifies any word like how it did in the two examples above. It joins two sentences together. You can think of it as a reversed version of because.

---

Reason → so → conclusion
Michael is gay, so he isn't interested in beautiful girls.

Conclusion → because → reason
Michael isn't interested in beautiful girls because he's gay.

---

I should point out that many English teachers are against using so to mean very, like I did in the first two examples, even though it's widely used by native speakers that way.

 

[probus]

many English teachers are against using so as an intensifier

They are SO wrong.

 

[SoothingDave]

They are SO wrong.

Like, totally.

 

[slevlife]

Like, totally.

English teachers are so extra.

 

[Glizdka]

I'm sorry. I edited my post while you were replying, probus, so your quote doesn't match it now.

Seeing your numerous, humorous replies, I feel compelled to give a link to Arika Okrent's "tsk-tsk theory".

 

[probus]

English teachers are so extra.

That's a new one on me, but like 5jj I am long past my "best before" date.