# so

Pronunciation: say "SOH" US /soʊ/, UK /səʊ/

## Conjunction

1. Used to introduce a result, meaning therefore or for that reason; in a reply, then.
   - Simple: Used to join two parts of a sentence when the second is the result of the first.
   - _The shop was closed, so we came home._
   - _She studied hard and so passed easily._
3. Short for so that: in order that, used to introduce the purpose of an action. — Reduced form of 'so that', used to express purpose; in order that.
   - Simple: Short for so that: used to say why something is done.
   - _Write it down so you don't forget._
   - _She moved closer so she could see the screen._
8. Used to connect what has just been said or happened to a question that arises from it.
   - Simple: Used to link what has been said to a question that follows from it.
   - _You've read the report. So what do you think?_
   - _The train's canceled. So how do we get home?_
16. Used to introduce a rhetorical question that dismisses an objection or a worry.
   - Simple: Used to start a question that expects no answer, brushing a worry aside.
   - _"You'll be tired tomorrow." "So who isn't?"_
   - _"We haven't got tickets." "So who said we needed tickets?"_

## Adverb

2. Very, extremely, or very much; used to intensify an adjective, adverb, or verb.
   - Simple: Very or very much, used to make a word stronger, as in 'I'm so tired'.
   - _Thank you, that's so kind of you._
   - _We were so tired after the journey._
5. To such a degree or extent, with the degree shown by a following that-clause, a gesture or the context.
   - Simple: To this amount or level, often followed by 'that' to say what happened, as in 'so dark that we couldn't see'.
   - _The room was so dark that we couldn't see the door._
   - _She spoke so quietly that nobody heard._
6. Used after do, does, did or doing in place of an action just mentioned, to avoid repeating it.
   - Simple: Used after do, does, did or doing for an action just talked about, so you don't repeat it.
   - _Passengers may leave their seats, but they should check that the seatbelt sign is off before doing so._
   - _The committee was asked to publish its findings and does so every spring._
7. In the same way or to the same degree as already mentioned, often with the verb before its subject, as in so did I.
   - Simple: Used to say that someone or something is the same in the way just mentioned, as in 'so do I'.
   - _She left early, and so did most of the guests._
   - _Just as the day has its dawn, so the year has its spring._
10. Totally or absolutely, placed before 'not' in a negative clause for emphasis, often mock-dramatically. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In informal speech, used before 'not' for emphasis, as in 'so not true'.
   - _You are so not ready for this exam._
   - _That outfit is so not you._
13. Used with a following 'as' to mean to such an extent or degree.
   - Simple: Used with 'as' in phrases like 'so far as' and 'so long as'.
   - _So far as I can tell, nothing is missing._
   - _The fine was never so high as to put a small shop out of business._
15. Indeed; used in replies that acknowledge something just pointed out, with the verb repeated after it.
   - Simple: Used to agree with surprise that something is true, as in 'so it is!'.
   - _"The clock's stopped." "So it has, how odd."_
   - _"That's your bus." "So it is, thanks."_
18. In the manner that is being demonstrated, described or pointed at.
   - Simple: In the way someone is showing or telling you, as in "Hold it like so."
   - _The instructor tilted the racket and said, "Keep your wrist angled like so."_
   - _Wrap the bandage once around the wrist and then over the thumb, like so, before taping the end down._

## Interjection

4. Used at the start of a sentence to introduce a new topic, question, or story, or to begin an answer.
   - Simple: A word used to start talking, change topic, or begin an answer, as in 'So, how was your trip?'
   - _So, tell me about your trip._
   - _So. Where were we before the phone rang?_
9. Used as a one-word question asking what follows from what was said, usually rhetorical, dismissive, or rude.
   - Simple: Used as a short, rude question meaning 'why does that matter?'.
   - _"It's raining." "So? We've got umbrellas."_
   - _"You're wearing odd socks." "So?"_

## Pronoun

11. That; used after verbs of thinking and saying to stand for what has just been mentioned.
   - Simple: Used instead of repeating what was just said, as in 'I think so'.
   - _"Will it rain?" "I don't think so."_
   - _He promised to come, and he told me so himself._

## Adjective

12. Used instead of repeating an adjective phrase already mentioned, meaning in that state or manner.
   - Simple: Used instead of repeating a describing word already used, as in 'It was cold and stayed so.'
   - _Everyone was nervous, and the newcomers especially so._
   - _The bridge was unsafe, and remained so for a decade._
14. Agreeing with the facts; true, used only after a verb.
   - Simple: True, matching the facts, as in 'that is so'.
   - _If that is so, we owe her an apology._
   - _"They say the bridge is closed." "Is that so?"_

## Noun

17. In music, the solfège syllable for the fifth note of a major scale, the dominant, between fa and la.
   - Simple: In music, the name for the fifth note of a scale, sung as 'so'.
   - _Sing the phrase again, starting on so._
   - _The tune leaps from do up to so._

## Conjunction

19. Provided that or as long as, typically with a subjunctive verb. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: In old English, 'provided that' or 'as long as'.
   - _Take what you will, so you leave me the horse._
   - _So it be done quietly, I care not how._

## Adjective

20. Homosexual, as a discreet code word used after a verb. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: Old British slang for gay, used carefully, as in 'is he so?'.

## Interjection

21. Stand still or steady, said to a cow being milked or handled, and used by sailors at the ropes. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: An old call meaning 'stand still', used to cows and by sailors.
   - _So, Daisy, so, the farmer murmured, easing the pail under her._
   - _Haul away... so! Hold it there._

## Other meanings

- (pronoun) Short for someone: used in dictionary entries and grammar notes as a placeholder for any person, like sb.
- (noun) An early Japanese dairy product made by reducing milk through long boiling, produced chiefly between the seventh and tenth centuries.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–16, 18–21** — From Middle English so, from Old English swā ("so, as, the same, such"), from Proto-West Germanic *swā and Proto-Germanic *swa, probably going back to a Proto-Indo-European reflexive stem *swē. It is related to Dutch zo, German so, Swedish så, and Ancient Greek hōs ("as").
**Meaning 17** — Shortened from sol to make it an open syllable matching the rest of the scale. It comes through Glover's solmization from Middle English sol, the fifth note of Guido of Arezzo's scale, itself taken from the first syllable of Latin solve in the hymn Ut queant laxis.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/so (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).