Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[NelsonS]

Hello!

I have some confusion about "so". We know that "so" is one of seven conjunctions, and "so" shows that there is a cause and effect relationship between two independent clauses. But the other use of "so" makes me confuse. we can also use "so that" to connect two sentences, and it contain cause and effect also. I ask many teachers about that, but they can not give me exact answer about "so". They suggest that i may ask someone coming from English speaking country.

1.In my opion,
"A ,so B" it means A is the reason of B. A cause B.
And if "A so that B" it means B is the purpose, and i do A.

The use of tense also has problem.
if i use "A ,so B", it mean B happen after A.
if i use "A so that B" it also means A happen first.

Is this correct @@?

2. Could "that" in "so that" be an ellipsis in a sentence?

ps.A and B are two independent clauses.

Thanks for sloving my problem^^

[Educationslave]

I dont know Exactly what you are asking but this may help anyways:

So can be used as a slang term, so there is a proper use and a regular use.

when you say: A so, B. you should give an example.

the white wall was blue, so, it must have been painted.
"the white wall was blue" is what are refering to. "so it must have been painted" is the reason that the wall is white.

here is another example:
" I will leave the door open, so that you may come in"
in this sentence "I will leave the door open" is something that is going to happen. "to that you may come in" is an explination of why it is going to happen.

I hope this helps, so that you may become better in english.
^___^
ES