So vs. Very

Soconjunction

In order that.

‘Eat your broccoli so you can have dessert.’;

Veryadjective

True, real, actual.

‘The fierce hatred of a very woman.’; ‘The very blood and bone of our grammar.’; ‘He tried his very best.’;

Soconjunction

With the result that; for that reason; therefore.

‘I was hungry so I asked if there was any more food.’; ‘He ate too much cake, so he fell ill.’; ‘He wanted a book, so he went to the library.’; ‘“I need to go to the bathroom.”
―“So go!”’;

Veryadjective

The same; identical.

‘He proposed marriage in the same restaurant, at the very table where they first met.’; ‘That's the very tool that I need.’;

Soconjunction

(archaic) Provided that; on condition that, as long as.

Veryadjective

With limiting effect: mere.

Soadverb

To the (explicitly stated) extent that.

‘It was so hot outside that all the plants died.’; ‘He was so good, they hired him on the spot.’;

Veryadverb

To a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.

‘You’re drinking very slowly.’; ‘That dress is very you.’;

Soadverb

(informal) To the (implied) extent.

‘I need a piece of cloth so long. [= this long]’;

Veryadverb

True, truly.

Soadverb

(informal) Very (positive clause).

‘He is so good!’;

Veryadverb

(with superlatives) Used to firmly establish that nothing else surpasses in some respect.

‘He was the very best runner there.’;

Soadverb

(informal) Very (negative clause).

‘It’s not so bad. [i.e. it's acceptable]’;

Veryadjective

True; real; actual; veritable.

‘Whether thou be my very son Esau or not.’; ‘He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.’; ‘The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness.’; ‘I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice.’;

Soadverb

Very much.

‘But I so want to see the Queen when she visits our town!’; ‘That is so not true!’;

Veryadverb

In a high degree; to no small extent; exceedingly; excessively; extremely; as, a very great mountain; a very bright sun; a very cold day; the river flows very rapidly; he was very much hurt.

Soadverb

In a particular manner.

‘Place the napkin on the table just so. If that's what you mean, then say so; (or do so).’;

Veryadjective

precisely as stated;

‘the very center of town’;

Soadverb

In the same manner or to the same extent as aforementioned; also.

‘Just as you have the right to your free speech, so I have the right to mine.’; ‘Many people say she's the world's greatest athlete, but I don't think so.’; ‘"I can count backwards from one hundred." "So can I."’;

Veryadjective

being the exact same one; not any other:;

‘this is the identical room we stayed in before’; ‘the themes of his stories are one and the same’; ‘saw the selfsame quotation in two newspapers’; ‘on this very spot’; ‘the very thing he said yesterday’; ‘the very man I want to see’;

Soadverb

To such an extent or degree; as.

‘so far as;’; ‘so long as;’; ‘so much as’;

Veryadjective

used to give emphasis to the relevance of the thing modified;

‘his very name struck terror’; ‘caught in the very act’;

Soadjective

True, accurate.

‘That is so.’; ‘You are responsible for this, is that not so?’;

Veryadjective

used to give emphasis;

‘the very essence of artistic expression is invention’; ‘the very back of the room’;

Soadjective

In that state or manner; with that attribute. A proadjective that replaces the aforementioned adjective phrase.

Veryadverb

used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal;

‘she was very gifted’; ‘he played very well’; ‘a really enjoyable evening’; ‘I'm real sorry about it’; ‘a rattling good yarn’;

Soadjective

Homosexual.

‘Is he so?’;

Veryadverb

precisely so;

‘on the very next page’; ‘he expected the very opposite’;

Sointerjection

Used after a pause for thought to introduce a new topic, question or story.

‘So, let's go home.’; ‘So, what'll you have?’; ‘So, there was this squirrel stuck in the chimney...’;

Sointerjection

Short for so what.

‘"You park your car in front of my house every morning." — "So?"’;

Sointerjection

Used to connect previous conversation or events to the following question.

‘So how does this story end?’; ‘So, everyone wants to know - did you win the contest or not?’;

Sointerjection

(archaic) Be as you are; stand still; used especially to cows; also used by sailors.

Sopronoun

abbreviation of someone

Sonoun

(music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the fifth note of a major scale.

Sonoun

(foods) A type of dairy product made in Japan between the seventh and 10th centuries.

Soadverb

In that manner or degree; as, indicated (in any way), or as implied, or as supposed to be known.

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?’;

Soadverb

In like manner or degree; in the same way; thus; for like reason; whith equal reason; - used correlatively, following as, to denote comparison or resemblance; sometimes, also, following inasmuch as.

‘As a war should be undertaken upon a just motive, so a prince ought to consider the condition he is in.’;

Soadverb

In such manner; to such degree; - used correlatively with as or that following; as, he was so fortunate as to escape.

‘I viewed in may mind, so far as I was able, the beginning and progress of a rising world.’; ‘He is very much in Sir Roger's esteem, so that he lives in the family rather as a relation than dependent.’;

Soadverb

Very; in a high degree; that is, in such a degree as can not well be expressed; as, he is so good; he planned so wisely.

Soadverb

In the same manner; as has been stated or suggested; in this or that condition or state; under these circumstances; in this way; - with reflex reference to something just asserted or implied; used also with the verb to be, as a predicate.

‘Use him [your tutor] with great respect yourself, and cause all your family to do so too.’; ‘It concerns every man, with the greatest seriousness, to inquire into those matters, whether they be so or not.’; ‘He is Sir Robert's son, and so art thou.’;

Soadverb

The case being such; therefore; on this account; for this reason; on these terms; - used both as an adverb and a conjuction.

‘God makes him in his own image an intellectual creature, and so capable of dominion.’; ‘Here, then, exchange we mutually forgiveness;So may the guilt of all my broken vows,My perjuries to thee, be all forgotten.’;

Soadverb

It is well; let it be as it is, or let it come to pass; - used to express assent.

‘And when 't is writ, for my sake read it over,And if it please you, so; if not, why, so.’; ‘There is Percy; if your father will do me any honor, so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself.’;

Soadverb

Well; the fact being as stated; - used as an expletive; as, so the work is done, is it?

Soadverb

Is it thus? do you mean what you say? - with an upward tone; as, do you say he refuses? So?

Soadverb

About the number, time, or quantity specified; thereabouts; more or less; as, I will spend a week or so in the country; I have read only a page or so.

‘A week or so will probably reconcile us.’; ‘So do, as thou hast said.’; ‘As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.’; ‘Had woman been so strong as men.’; ‘No country suffered so much as England.’;

Soconjunction

Provided that; on condition that; in case that; if.

‘Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose play upon the earth, so truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength.’;

Sointerjection

Be as you are; stand still; stop; that will do; right as you are; - a word used esp. to cows; also used by sailors.

Sonoun

the syllable naming the fifth (dominant) note of any musical scale in solmization

Soadjective

conforming to truth;

‘I wouldn't have told you this if it weren't so’; ‘a truthful statement’;

Soadjective

marked by system; in good order;

‘everything is in order’; ‘his books are always just so’; ‘things must be exactly so’;

Soadverb

to a very great extent or degree;

‘the idea is so obvious’; ‘never been so happy’; ‘I love you so’; ‘my head aches so!’;

Soadverb

in order that;

‘he stooped down so he could pick up his hat’;

Soadverb

in such a condition or manner, especially as expressed or implied;

‘They're happy and I hope they will remain so’; ‘so live your life that old age will bring no regrets’;

Soadverb

to a certain unspecified extent or degree;

‘I can only go so far with this student’; ‘can do only so much in a day’;

Soadverb

in the same way; also;

‘I was offended and so was he’; ‘worked hard and so did she’;

Soadverb

in the way indicated;

‘hold the brush so’; ‘set up the pieces thus’;

Soadverb

(usually followed by `that') to an extent or degree as expressed;

‘he was so tired he could hardly stand’; ‘so dirty that it smells’;

Soadverb

subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors);

‘then he left’; ‘go left first, then right’; ‘first came lightning, then thunder’; ‘we watched the late movie and then went to bed’; ‘and so home and to bed’;

Soadverb

in truth (often tends to intensify);

‘they said the car would break down and indeed it did’; ‘it is very cold indeed’; ‘was indeed grateful’; ‘indeed, the rain may still come’; ‘he did so do it!’;

Soadverb

to such a great extent

‘don't look so worried’; ‘the words tumbled out so fast that I could barely hear them’; ‘I'm not so foolish as to say that’;

Soadverb

extremely; very much (used for emphasis)

‘I do love it so’; ‘she looked so pretty’;

Soadverb

used to emphasize a clause or negative statement

‘you are so going to regret this’; ‘that's so not fair’;

Soadverb

used with a gesture to indicate size

‘the bird was about so long’;

Soadverb

to the same extent (used in comparisons)

‘he isn't so bad as you'd think’; ‘help without which he would not have done so well’;

Soadverb

referring back to something previously mentioned.

Soadverb

that is the case

‘I hear that you're a writer—is that so?’; ‘if she notices, she never says so’; ‘‘Has somebody called an ambulance?’ ‘I believe so’’;

Soadverb

similarly; and also

‘times have changed and so have I’;

Soadverb

expressing agreement

‘‘There's another one.’ ‘So there is.’’;

Soadverb

used for emphasis in a formula added at the end of a statement

‘your old man was the salt of the earth, so he was’;

Soadverb

used to emphatically contradict a negative statement

‘it is so!’;

Soadverb

in the way described or demonstrated; thus

‘so it was that he was still a bachelor’; ‘hold your arms so’;

Soconjunction

and for this reason; therefore

‘you know I'm telling the truth, so don't interrupt’; ‘it was still painful so I went to see a specialist’;

Soconjunction

with the result that

‘it was overgrown with brambles, so that I had difficulty making any progress’;

Soconjunction

with the aim that; in order that

‘they whisper to each other so that no one else can hear’;

Soconjunction

and then; as the next step

‘and so to the final’;

Soconjunction

introducing a question

‘so, what did you do today?’;

Soconjunction

introducing a question following on from what was said previously

‘so what did he do about it?’;

Soconjunction

why should that be considered significant?

‘‘He came into the shop this morning.’ ‘So?’’; ‘so what if he failed?’;

Soconjunction

introducing a statement which is followed by a defensive comment

‘so I like keeping track of things—what's wrong with that?’;

Soconjunction

introducing a concluding statement

‘so that's that’;

Soconjunction

in the same way; correspondingly

‘just as bad money drives out good, so does bad art drive out the good’;

Sonoun

variant spelling of soh