'SO' INSTEAD
OF 'THAT-CLAUSES'
The word ‘so’ can be
used instead of a that-clause after the verbs say and tell.
·
They are getting
married. Everybody says so. (= Everybody says that they are getting married.)
Here we use the word
‘so’ to avoid the repetition of the clause ‘that they are getting married’.
·
‘You are going to cook
dinner’ ‘Who says so?’ (= Who says that I am going to cook dinner?)
·
The government is
introducing new tax laws. Mark told me do. (= Mark told me that the government
is introducing new tax laws.)
I told you so
The expression I
told you so is used to mean ‘I warned you, but you didn’t listen to
me.’
·
‘Mummy, I’ve failed my
test.’ ‘I told you so. You shouldn’t have spent the whole time sitting in front
of that TV.’
With this meaning, so is
not normally used after other verbs of saying.
‘So’ can also be used
after the verbs think, hope, believe, expect, suppose and guess.
·
‘Is Samuel here?’ ‘I
think so.’ (= I think that Samuel is here.)
·
‘Do you think that we
are going to win?’ ‘Yes, I hope so.’ (= I think that we are going to win.)
Note that ‘so’ cannot
be used before a that-clause.
·
I hope that we
will win. (NOT I hope so that we will win.)
‘So’ cannot be used
after ‘know’.
·
‘You are late’. ‘I
know.’ or ‘I know it.’ (NOT I know so.)
