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Speaker 1: You know. I started this podcast in twenty fourteen so

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I can help people speak English better. And now there

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are so many podcast episodes it's almost near one thousand,

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so check this one out.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight ninety eight.

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So what's the deal with so? Thanks for tuning in,

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and welcome back to the Happy English Podcast. Today we're

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talking about so. Just two little letters SO, but this

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little word works over time. In English, we use so

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to show a result, to give a reason, to add emphasis,

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and yeah, we even use it. But we're not sure

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what to say next, So let's break it down. I'll

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show you four ways we use SO with lots of

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examples to help you practice this and sound more natural

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when you speak English. Here we go. First up, Probably

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the most common meaning of so is to show a result.

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It's like saying because of that or therefore, like this

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morning it started raining, so I decided to stay home.

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There's the cause it rained and the result I stayed

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home cause and effect or like what happened last week?

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Jack forgot to set his alarm so he was late

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for work. Yep, that happened, And let me tell you something,

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the boss wasn't too happy. Here's another one. My friend

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Ed is allergic to nuts, so we didn't get the

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walnut brownies. Probably a good idea, right. Actually, just the

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other day I went back to the gym for the

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first time in a long time, and I went a

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little too hard, like an hour of cardio and weight training.

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So the next morning I couldn't move My legs were

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killing me. That's so as a result, one thing leads

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to another. So yeah, so is super handy when you

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want to explain why something happened. Next, here's a variation.

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So with that, we use so followed by an adjective,

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an adverb, or renown plus that when we want to

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show a strong or extreme result. Let's say one of

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your friends made a huge dinner for everyone. You could

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say she cooked so much food that we couldn't finish

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it all. Wow, that is next level food prep. Or

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how about this one. I went to a concert last week.

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The music was so loud that I couldn't hear myself

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think and if you've ever been to a live rock concert,

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you know the feeling. And check this out. Yesterday, I

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was so tired that I fell asleep during the meeting.

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And by the way, in daily conversation, we often dropped

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the word that, especially when speaking quickly, like she was

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so hungry she ate the whole peace. That's totally natural.

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So when you want to be expressive, paint a picture,

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so followed by that is your friend. We also use

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so that with nothing in between, to show purpose or intention.

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So that means in order to let's say you're studying

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late at night, why I'm studying now so that I

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can enjoy the weekend. You're not just studying. You've got

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a goal, You've got a purpose. Or we left early

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so that we wouldn't miss our train. What's the purpose

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of leaving early not to miss the train. Here's one more.

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During the class, I explained it again so that everyone

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would understand that's not a result, that's the purpose for

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doing something. And here's one I used in a beginner

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class just last week. I said, I'm going to speak

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slowly so that you can follow more easily. That's showing intention,

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not the result of me speaking slowly, but why I'm

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doing it. And finally, here's one of the most common

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uses of sow In real life. We use so as

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a filler word. We use so when we're thinking starting

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a conversation or changing the topic. Like at a restaurant

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after sitting with the menu for a few minutes, you

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can say to your friend, so, what do you want

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to eat? Or when you start a new topic, you

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can also use SO, like so check this out. I

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was walking down the street one time and I saw

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a guy walking down the road with a parrot on

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his shoulder. Yeah, true story. New York is full of surprises.

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I think this is a handy phrase to remember. So

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check this out. You can use this phrase when you

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want to bring up a new topic or just bring

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attention to what you want to add to the conversation.

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Like last weekend, I was talking with some friends about

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music and some concerts that are coming up. One of

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my buddies said, so, check this out. The Rolling Stones

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are going on tour this winter. In these cases, SO

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does it really have a meaning. It's just there to

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make your speech flow more naturally. Okay, let's recap SO

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shows a result it was raining, so we stayed home.

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We use so followed by an adjective, adverb, or noun

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followed by that to show a strong result. It was

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so cold that I couldn't feel my fingers, or I

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ate so much ice cream that I couldn't get off

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the sofa. So that also shows a purpose, like I

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studied so that I could pass the test. And lastly,

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we use so as a conversational filler, like so, what's

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next and so check this out. So here's your challenge

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this week. Try noticing how so is used in conversations

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around you, in podcasts, on TV, or when you talk

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with friends. Try using so for results, so that for purpose,

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and don't be afraid to throw in a little filler

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so check this out to sound more natural. And hey,

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if you want to practice the English from this and

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all of my podcasts with me and a group of

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other awesome English learners, come check out my podcast Learner's

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Study Group. We meet once a week and go over

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the language from these podcast lessons together. It's a great

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way to build confidence and improve your speaking. Just check

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the link where you're listening to this podcast, or visit

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Myhappy English dot com and choose Podcast episode eight ninety

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eight for more info. Thanks for listening, and remember, learning

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another language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and

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I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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that Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy

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