Learn how to use the English words "so" and "such"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: This English Lesson is Such a Beauty You Have to Listen to It. |
| Barbara: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use So and Such and about Meeting Minutes. |
| Braden: This conversation takes place in the office. |
| Barbara: And it’s between Cody and June. |
| Braden: The speakers are co-workers but June has only just started working there so she’ll be speaking professionally. Cody is complaining so he’ll be speaking casually. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Cody: This is such a terrible job! |
| June: Why do you say that? |
| Cody: Big John just came in and put a stack of papers on my desk and told me to have everything done by the end of the day. |
| June: And since it's three P.M., you'd better get working on it. |
| Cody: I am working on it, but there's no way I'll get it done in time. |
| June: That certainly isn't my ideal way to spend the afternoon. |
| Cody: This is so bad! |
| June: Well, it may not be good, but it certainly isn't all that bad. If you pull through, maybe Big John will start to trust you and give you a raise. |
| Cody: Or he'll just figure out how to leverage me to do his work for him. |
| June: I guess that's also a possibility. I'm new here, so I don't know how he works. What are the papers about? |
| Cody: They're meeting minutes and some meeting transcripts from our staff meetings. |
| June: That stack's nearly a foot tall. Like I said, I'm new here, but do we really have that many meetings? |
| Cody: No! This is from the past seven years. |
| June: Seven years? Why is he having you do that now? It isn't like he hasn't had enough time to do it before. |
| Cody: Corporate asked for them. I think they're concerned that we are not selling as much as they'd like. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: Ok, so in the dialgoue, they used the word “minutes” in a new way. So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Minutes. |
| Barbara: “Minutes” is a term used in business to describe a written record of a meeting or hearing. |
| Braden: They are typically in chronological order and describe the events of a meeting. They can also include a list of attendees, statement of issues, tasks delegated or assigned, and projects accepted. |
| Barbara: Typically “minutes” are prepared by a typist or in the case of a hearing, the court recorder. The person taking the minutes may use shorthand notation and then prepare the minutes afterwards. |
| Braden: It's important to understand that meeting notes and meeting minutes in the professional world are actually two different things. |
| Barbara: It's also important to recognize that minutes are not a word-for-word transcript of the meeting. Instead, they are typically a summary of the discussion and decisions, and specify who said what as opposed to what everybody said. |
| Braden: The minutes of certain groups, such as a corporate board of directors, must be kept on file and are important legal documents. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we'll look at is... |
| Barbara: terrible [natural native speed] |
| Braden: extremely or distressingly bad or serious |
| Barbara: terrible [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: terrible [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: stack [natural native speed] |
| Braden: group of things put on top of each other |
| Barbara: stack [slowly - broken down by syllable] stack [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: ideal [natural native speed] |
| Braden: desirable or perfect but not likely to become a reality |
| Barbara: ideal [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: ideal [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: raise [natural native speed] |
| Braden: an increase in salary |
| Barbara: raise [slowly - broken down by syllable] raise [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: figure out [natural native speed] |
| Braden: solve or discover the cause of something |
| Barbara: figure out [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: figure out [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: leverage [natural native speed] |
| Braden: use (something) to maximum advantage |
| Barbara: leverage [slowly - broken down by syllable] leverage [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: trust [natural native speed] |
| Braden: believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of |
| Barbara: trust [slowly - broken down by syllable] trust [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: corporate [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a corporate company or group. |
| Barbara: corporate [slowly - broken down by syllable] corporate [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “pull through.” |
| which means “To come or bring successfully through some kind of difficulty. Frequently illness.” |
| Barbara: The idea is that even though the task is difficult or uncomfortable, if you do what you’re supposed to, the difficulty will end. |
| Braden: It is believed that this phrase comes from a tool used to clean old rifle and musket barrels after being fired. The explosion left behind dust that could cause the weapon to back fire if not cleaned out. |
| Barbara: The extension to that idea is that even though the inside of the barrel is long, dark, dreary and you’re gong to do hard work before you get out, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: pull through (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: pull through (fast) |
| Braden: What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next phrase is “to leverage.” |
| Braden: Which means “to take advantage of something” |
| This verb refers to using a lever to achieve some kind of goal. Because levers make lifting heavy things easier. In this case, it would be to use Cody as a lever to do all the hard work for Big John. |
| Braden: That’s right. Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: to leverage (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: to leverage (fast) |
| Braden: Perfect! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: So, Barbara, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is structuring sentences with "such" and "so" |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase… |
| Barbara: This is such a terrible job! |
| Braden: The words "such" and "so" have very similar meanings but the sentence structure around them is different. |
| Barbara: The main difference between the two structures is that "such" takes a noun or a noun phrase, whereas "so" takes an adjective. |
| Braden: To use "such" properly you must attach a noun or a noun phrase to it. Remember that a comma comes after the noun or noun phrase. |
| Barbara: The construction is such + adjective + noun + , (comma) |
| Braden: Some examples would be “The omelet was such a beauty, I had to take a picture.” |
| Barbara: An optional "that" can be used following the noun phrase. If you choose to use the "that," there is no comma. |
| Braden: So the construction would be such + adjective + noun + that |
| Barbara: And an example sentences would be “The omelet was such a beauty that I had to take a picture.” |
| Braden: Next let’s take a look at So (...that). To use the word "so" correctly you must attach only an adjective, no nouns involved. |
| Barbara: The construction is So + adjective + , (comma) |
| Braden: Some examples would be "The book was so interesting, she couldn't put it down." |
| Barbara: Again, an optional "that" can be used following the adjective. If you use "that," the comma is no longer required. |
| Braden: The construction of this would be So + adjective + that. |
| Barbara: For example – "The book was so interesting that she couldn't put it down." |
| Braden: "So" can also be used as a conjunction in order to show an outcome or consequence. In this case, "so" is followed by a full clause |
| Barbara: For example, “They had a lot of money, so they traveled Europe.” |
| Braden: Another example would be “She wasn't happy with her hair style, so she asked the hair stylist to be creative.” |
| Barbara: Let's review this lesson. |
| Braden: “So” and “such” have very similar meanings but interact differently with the sentence. |
| Barbara: With “such,” you need to use nouns or noun phrases in order to convey the correct meaning. |
| Braden: But with “so,” you need to use adjectives. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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