Writing Tips
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Index S
- Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
- Saint John
- Saint Johner
- Saint John River
- Salish
- Salishan
- Salish Sea
- same
- Sami
- sanction
- Sask.
- Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewaner
- Saskatchewanian
- satisfaction in
- satisfaction of
- satisfied with
- Saultite
- Sault Ste. Marie
- Scando-
- sceptic
- Scoto-
- scrutiny
- seasonable
- seasonably
- seasonal
- seasonally
- secure against
- secure from
- secure in
- seem
- segue
- Segway
- seismo-
- seldom
- seldomly
- semi-
- semi-annual
- semicolon
- sensual
- sensuous
- sentence fragment
- septic
- Serb
- Serbian
- Serbo-
- Serbo-Croatian
- serial commas
- serif fonts
- serve
- serve to illustrate
- service
- serviceable
- sesqui-
- set
- several different
- sex
- sharp
- sharply
- signed at
- signed in
- simile
- simple sentence
- sink
- sink down
- Sino-
- sit
- SK
- skijoring
- slippery slope
- so as an adverb
- socio-
- solstice
- somber
- sombre
- some
- somni-
- son-
- soni-
- sono-
- Sons of the Clergy Islands
- Soo
- sort of
- sorts of
- spacing
- spacing with periods
- spans of time
- speak
- specific example
- specter
- spectre
- speculate about
- speculate in
- speculate on
- speculate upon
- spelling: able/ible and ative/itive endings
- spelling: combinations with all
- spelling: final consonants doubled before a suffix
- spelling: frequently misspelled words
- spelling: international variations
- spelling: plurals of foreign nouns
- spelling: SI/metric units
- spelling: spell-checking
- spelling: verbs ending in ie
- spelling: verbs ending in sede
- spelling: words ending in a silent e
- spelling: words ending in c
- spelling: words ending in -ise and -ize
- spelling: words ending in n
- spelling: words ending in y
- spelling: words with ei and ie
- spring
- square brackets
- Stampede City
- standard time
- stanza
- start
- stationary
- stationery
- stay-at-home
- steal
- St. John’s
- St. John’san
- St. John’ser
- strata
- stratum
- streets and buildings: abbreviations and numbers
- sub-
- subject (1)
- subject (2)
- subject area
- subject complement
- subjected to
- subject predicate order
- subject to
- subordinating conjunctions
- subsequent
- subsequent to
- substitute for
- successful achievement
- successfully achieve
- sucr-
- sucro-
- sudden impulse
- suggest that
- suited for
- suited to
- summer
- summer time
- sum total
- super-
- supposably
- supposedly
- surprise
- surrounded
- surrounded on all sides
- Swedo-
- sym-
- sympathetic to
- sympathetic toward(s)
- sympathize with
- sympathy between
- sympathy for
- sympathy with
- syn-
Proactive Disclosure
Important notice
Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
Search and Functionalities Area
so as an adverb
As an adverb, so is used mainly with the following meanings:
- as a modifier meaning “to such a degree, to a great degree,” before other modifiers or with a verb
- Karla dances so lightly and gracefully.
- The watch was so expensive that Juan was afraid to wear it.
- Al loves his children so.
- as a modifier meaning “as previously described,” after a verb
- I don’t know for sure if Maria’s going, but I think so.
- The weather is not too hot, but with the humidity, it seems so.
- as a modifier meaning “as described, to the same degree, also” before an inverted subject and verb
- Michel said he would win, and so he did.
- My sister wants to leave on Wednesday, and so do I.
More recently, so has come to be used as an intensifier, similar to definitely. Such uses have been called the “Gen X so”:
- Your shirt is so eighties.
- We so aren’t going to Calgary.
- It is so not my problem.
The GenX so is considered slang and should be avoided in formal writing and speech.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau
