8.54 Result clauses

When you want to indicate the result of something, you use a result clause.

Result clauses always come after the main clause.

8.55

Result clauses usually begin with 'so that'.

You can use 'so that' simply to say what the result of an event or situation was.

• My suitcase had become damaged on the journey home, so that the lid would not stay closed.
• A great storm had brought the sea right into the house, so that they had been forced to make their escape by a window at the back.
• Many wives shoulder the prime responsibility for running the home, so that in most families the loss of the wife is more devastating than the loss of the husband.

'So', 'and so', and 'and' can also be used.

• The young do not have the money to save and the old are consuming their savings, so it is mainly the middle-aged who are saving.
• She was having great difficulty getting her car out, and so I had to move my car to let her out.
• Her boy friend was shot in the chest and died.

With these result clauses, you usually put a comma after the main clause.

8.56

You can also use 'so that' to say that something is or was done in a particular way to achieve a desired result.

For example, 'He fixed the bell so that it would ring when anyone came in' means 'He fixed the bell in such a way that it would ring when anyone came in'.

• Explain it so that a 10-year-old could understand it.
• They arranged things so that they never met.

With these result clauses, you do NOT put a comma after the main clause.

8.57

'So that' is also used in finite purpose clauses. This use is explained in paragraph 8.47.

8.58

'So' and 'that' are also used in a special kind of structure to say that a result happens because something has a quality to a particular extent, or because something is done in an extreme way.

In these structures, 'so' is used as a modifier in front of an adjective or adverb. A 'that'-clause is then added as a qualifier. Seeparagraph 2.309 for similar structures to the one described in this paragraph.

• The crowd was so large that it overflowed the auditorium.
• They were so surprised they didn't try to stop him.
• He dressed so quickly that he put his boots on the wrong feet.
• She had fallen down so often that she was covered in mud.

Sometimes 'as' is used instead of 'that'. 'As' is followed by a 'to'-infinitive clause.

• ...small beaches of sand so white as to dazzle the eye.
• I hope that nobody was so stupid as to go around saying those things.

8.59

'So' and 'that' can also be used in this way with 'many', 'few', 'much', and 'little'.

• We found so much to talk about that it was late at night when we remembered the time.
• There were so many children you could hardly squeeze in the room.