Tom lowered himself so much that he hit a girl.

[tufguy]

1) Tom lowered himself so much that he hit a girl.

2) I didn't know that you would lower yourself to this extent that you would throw your mother out of the house.


Please check my sentences.

 

[emsr2d2]

Are you talking about someone lowering their standard of behaviour?

 

[tedmc]

"Lower oneself" is to do with body positions.
I can't imagine how you do that to hit a person.
Maybe you mean "stoop so low as to..".

 

[tufguy]

"Lower oneself" is to do with body positions.
I can't imagine how you do that to hit a person.
Maybe you mean "stoop so low as to..".

1) Tom stooped himself so low that he hit a girl.

2) I didn't know that you would stoop yourself "so low" or "to this extent" (can both be used here?) that you would throw your mother out of the house.

 

[tufguy]

"Lower oneself" is to do with body positions.
I can't imagine how you do that to hit a person.
Maybe you mean "stoop so low as to..".

But Google shows it is a synonym of stoop.

 

[tzfujimino]

It's an idiom/fixed expression, tufguy.
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/stoop_1?q=Stoop

 

[tufguy]

It's an idiom/fixed expression, tufguy.
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/stoop_1?q=Stoop

1) Tom stooped himself so low that he hit a girl.

2) I didn't know that you would stoop yourself so low that you would throw your mother out of the house.

Is it necessary to use "as to" after "stoop so low" in every sentence?

 

[GoesStation]

The idiomatic way to say sentence 1 is Tom stooped so low as to hit a girl.

 

[emsr2d2]

Or "Tom stooped so low that he hit a girl". To be fair, without context, the reader/listener still wouldn't know whether you're talking about Tom's physical movement or his behaviour.

To be completely clear, I'd say something like "I can't believe Tom did something as despicable as hitting a girl".

 

[tufguy]

The idiomatic way to say sentence 1 is Tom stooped so low as to hit a girl.

1) My friend stooped so low as to not return the money, I gave him when he needed it.

2) My friend stooped so low that he did not return the money, I had given him when he needed it.

 

[GoesStation]

1) My friend stooped so low as to not return the money, I gave him when he needed it.

2) My friend stooped so low that he did not return the money, I had given him when he needed it.

They're both grammatically correct if you remove the commas. The past perfect in sentence 2 is a more natural choice.

Neither sentence is a natural use of the phrase stoop so low. I recommend that you forget about using this phrase altogether.

 

[tufguy]

They're both grammatically correct if you remove the commas. The past perfect in sentence 2 is a more natural choice.

Neither sentence is a natural use of the phrase stoop so low. I recommend that you forget about using this phrase altogether.

So what to use instead of "stoop low" in case I have to use it? You told me and according to the dictionaries as well it also means to lower one's standard of behavior then what is wrong in these sentences?

 

[GoesStation]

In casual conversation it would be natural in American English to say something like He was such a jerk that he actually hit a girl. "Jerk" is the mildest of several words that might be used.

 

[tufguy]

In casual conversation it would be natural in American English to say something like He was such a jerk that he actually hit a girl. "Jerk" is the mildest of several words that might be used.

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry to ask but how about a formal word?