Cause and effect: so + adjective + that, such + noun phrase

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك

Copies of famous perfumes, imitations of well-known brands, fake paintings seized by customs officers: counterfeits are everywhere, and many consumers buy them without a second thought. Why? One sentence can give both the cause and its effect: « Copies of brands are so cheap that some consumers don't hesitate to buy them. » How do so … that and such … that put a cause and its effect into a single sentence?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

التعبير عن السبب ونتيجته في جملة واحدة بـ ⁦so + adjective + that⁩ و ⁦such + noun phrase + that⁩
اختيار ⁦so⁩ قبل الصفة وحدها، و ⁦such⁩ قبل المركّب الاسميّ ⁦(such a sunny day)⁩
التمييز بين الجملة الرئيسيّة التي تحمل السبب والجملة التابعة التي تحمل النتيجة
إعادة صياغة المعنى نفسه بأدوات النتيجة ⁦so · as a result · as a consequence · consequently⁩

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

الصفة والمركّب الاسميّ ⁦(adjective · noun phrase)⁩
أداة النكرة ⁦a · an⁩ مع الاسم المفرد المعدود
الجملة الرئيسيّة والجملة التابعة ⁦(main clause · subordinate clause)⁩

1. So + adjective + that, such + noun phrase + that

⁦so⁩ تسبق الصفة، و ⁦such⁩ تسبق المركّب الاسميّ؛ وبعدهما ⁦that⁩ التي تُدخل النتيجة.

Among the link words that express effect, result or consequence, two patterns put the cause and its effect in one sentence: so + adjective + that — « It was so hot that we decided to go to the beach. » such + noun phrase + that — « It was such a sunny day that we decided to go to the seaside. » The main clause gives the cause and carries so or such: it was so hot. The subordinate clause, introduced by that, gives the effect: that we decided to go to the beach. So goes with an adjective alone; such goes with a noun phrase — a noun group, with its article and its adjective: such a sunny day.

Two patterns, one meaning

Pattern	Cause — the main clause	Effect — the that-clause
so + adjective + that	It was so hot	that we decided to go to the beach.
such + noun phrase + that	It was such a sunny day	that we decided to go to the seaside.

so + an adjective alone · such + a noun group.

Task 1 — Link the pairs of sentences below with so + adjective + that or such + noun phrase + that.

A. a. There are many marketed imitations of these brands. — b. Consumers have lost confidence in these brands. B. a. Copies of brands are cheap. — b. Some consumers don't hesitate to buy them. C. a. Counterfeits are of bad quality. — b. It is a waste of money to buy them.

Task 1 — the answers

الإجابات : ⁦so⁩ قبل الصفة، و ⁦such⁩ قبل المركّب الاسميّ.

A. There are such a large number of marketed imitations of these brands that consumers have lost confidence in them. — a noun phrase: such.
B. Copies of brands are so cheap that some consumers don't hesitate to buy them. — an adjective alone: so.
C. Counterfeits are of such bad quality that it is a waste of money to buy them. — bad quality is a noun phrase: such.

Before you choose, look at what follows: an adjective alone (cheap) takes so; a noun, with or without its adjective (bad quality, a large number), takes such.

2. The same pattern in a text on counterfeiting

في النصّ جملتان على النمط نفسه، واحدة في الفقرة الأولى وأخرى في الأخيرة: ابحث عنهما، ثمّ حلّلهما.

Imitating property is theft — first and third paragraphs

A counterfeit is something that is forged, copied with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding. To most people, counterfeiting means essentially forged currency. But in reality, products of all sorts, medicines, mobile phones, food and drink, and even car parts are being copied every day by counterfeiters. These products are imitated to such perfection that it is difficult to distinguish between the genuine and the fake products. […] Counterfeiting is not without consequences. A study conducted in 2000 by the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that the EU has lost 17,120 jobs as a result of the counterfeiting of clothing, cosmetics, toys, sports equipment and medicines. As counterfeiters rarely pay duties or taxes, EU governments have also lost a lot of revenue. This loss amounts to 7.4 billion dollars a year. As far as companies are concerned, the loss in profitability is so big that most of them have launched advertisement campaigns against counterfeiting. From The Economist, May 17th, 2003

Task 2 — Find the two sentences of the text built on the same pattern as your sentences in Task 1, and check your answers to Task 1 with them.

استخرج الجملتين المبنيّتين على النمط نفسه، وقارن بهما إجاباتك.

First paragraph: « These products are imitated to such perfection that it is difficult to distinguish between the genuine and the fake products. » — such + a noun: perfection.
Third paragraph: « As far as companies are concerned, the loss in profitability is so big that most of them have launched advertisement campaigns against counterfeiting. » — so + an adjective: big.

Such perfection has no article: perfection is an uncountable noun, like quality in « such bad quality ».

Task 3 — In these two sentences: A. What are the main clauses? B. What are the subordinate clauses? C. What do the subordinate clauses express?

ما الجملتان الرئيسيّتان؟ وما الجملتان التابعتان؟ وعمّ تعبّر الجملتان التابعتان؟

A. Main clauses: « These products are imitated to such perfection » · « the loss in profitability is so big ».
B. Subordinate clauses: « that it is difficult to distinguish between the genuine and the fake products » · « that most of them have launched advertisement campaigns against counterfeiting ».
C. They express the result — the effect of the cause given in the main clause.

Task 4 — Rewrite the two sentences so that they mean the same, using the link words so, as a result, as a consequence or consequently.

أعد كتابة الجملتين بأدوات النتيجة دون أن يتغيّر المعنى.

These products are imitated to perfection. As a result, it is difficult to distinguish between the genuine and the fake products.
As far as companies are concerned, the loss in profitability is big, so most of them have launched advertisement campaigns against counterfeiting. — or: Consequently, most of them have launched … — or: As a consequence, …

Notice what disappears: with a link word of result, the first clause loses its so or such — « the loss in profitability is big ». The link word now carries the relation between cause and effect.

Do this alone, in writing. Write three sentences about counterfeit products: one with so + adjective + that, one with such + a + adjective + noun + that, and one with such + adjective + noun + that where the noun takes no article. Then check each one: is the cause before that, and the effect after it?

اكتب وحدك ثلاث جمل عن السلع المقلَّدة بالصيغ الثلاث، ثمّ تحقّق: السبب قبل ⁦that⁩ والنتيجة بعدها.

A model answer

Some copies of famous perfumes are so cheap that teenagers buy them without thinking. It was such a good imitation that nobody noticed the difference. Some counterfeit toys have such poor safety standards that parents should read every label.

In the exam, this pattern is tested in the text exploration: you join two sentences with so … that or such … that, or you rewrite a sentence built with so, as a result or consequently. Have three things ready: ① so + adjective + that; ② such + noun phrase + that — such a sunny day, such bad quality; ③ the cause in the main clause, the effect after that. The frequent mistake: so before a noun phrase — ✗ « so a sunny day » → ✓ « such a sunny day ».

What I keep — To give a cause and its effect in one sentence, I use so + adjective + that (« the loss in profitability is so big that most companies have launched campaigns ») or such + noun phrase + that (« These products are imitated to such perfection that it is difficult to distinguish the genuine from the fake »). The main clause gives the cause; the clause introduced by that gives the result. With so, as a result or consequently, the same idea takes two clauses, and so or such disappears.

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