Hi, students.
Hope you're well.
In this lesson, I'm going to teach you
some phrases and expressions that contain the words so.
So is a very common word.
We use it all the time.
So my idea for this lesson was to make you start using so
in more interesting and varied ways, and in that way,
you're going to raise the level of your vocabulary
so you can sound much more advanced in your English.
Let's start off with the first word up here.
It's not actually a phrase, this one,
but I wanted to include it because it's
a good and easy one for you to start using.
So-so-- if something is so-so, it's kind of in the middle.
How was the film?
It was so-so.
Another time you could use this is if somebody asks you,
how are you today?
You can say, so-so.
But it's a bit of a downer kind of response, like saying,
not bad.
It's not commonly used that way, but you
could use it, if you wanted to.
The next example you probably already using your English.
You can use it as a response to a question that you're asked.
So if somebody comes up to you at the bus stop and says,
does this bus go to the city center,
and you don't think it does, you can say,
no, I don't think so-- not this bus.
So that's the disagreeing way of using the phrase.
We also have another way to use it,
which is a strong rejection.
And this is very specific, mainly used by teenagers--
sassy kind of teenagers to say, no, I definitely
am not interested.
Imagine someone comes and asks you for a date,
but you would never go on a date with them.
You could say, no, I don't think so.
If you say so--
we use this when we disagree with something someone has said
or when we're being dismissive also about what someone said.
So we're disagreeing.
People say this when they just can't come out
and directly say, no, I don't agree
or I don't think it's a good thing.
This teacher is the nicest teacher I've seen in my life.
I think it's amazing.
The other person could say, if you say so.
And that means, no, I don't think
is quite so brilliant as you're making out.
Next example-- will I see you at the weekend?
I hope so.
In that context, you're saying you don't know for certain yet,
but you hope something will happen.
Now we have, is that so?
This can also sound a bit formal,
and we use it in situations as a response
to some surprising information.
Imagine that you just had your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend
is getting married.
Somebody tells you that.
You can say, is that so?
Depending on your tone will convey your emotion about that,
but it's new information to you, and you weren't expecting it.
Now we have, so it seems, and so it--
no-- so it would seem--
so it seems and so it would seem.
This is a response to an observation--
a negative observation that somebody else has made.
And it has a distancing effect.
So any kind of dramatic negative situation
which, if you were personally involved in it,
you might feel quite strongly about it--
we can use a phrase like this to distance ourselves from it,
and to give a calm impression.
You're on a car trip, and you didn't fill up the petrol tank.
Your passenger says to you, we're
going to run out of petrol.
We're in the middle of nowhere.
How long until we find the garbage to fill up?
We're going to run out of petrol-- you can say,
so it seems.
So it would seem.
Secretly, you're panicking too, but this
is going to make you seem calm in the situation--
calm and collected.
Or so they say--
we say this after we have reported some information
that people in general say.
So this can be gossip.
This can be rumor.
This can be stereotypes.
You don't necessarily want to agree
with what people in general say, but you're
passing on that general knowledge anyway.
If we spread rumor, that doesn't make us look good,
so this is why a distancing phrase like this might be used.
Northerners are more trustworthy than Southerners.
People from the North are more trustworthy than people
from the South--
or so they say.
I don't know for certain.
I'm just telling you what people say.
This next one, because I say so or because I said so,
is used usually by parents to their children.
If a child asks them, why do I have to do this--
mommy, why do I have to do my homework?
I don't want to do my homework.
The response would be, because I said so.
What I say is law.
I don't have to explain to you why it's happening.
These phrases here are used in very formal speech,
a person has a formal style of speaking
or in academic contexts.
So we can say, and so on or and so forth.
The meaning is the same as et cetera.
And instead of making a really, really long list
of more than three things you can say, and so on,
or and so forth.
I would say the second one is a little bit more formal still.
So if you want to sound very, very formal, use this one.
Now we have, would you be so kind as--
blah, blah, blah-- to do something?
We use this phrase when you are politely asking someone
to do something for you, such as,
would you be so kind as to open the door for me?
I'm carrying some heavy suitcases.
I need to get through, and I'm asking you politely,
would you be so kind as to open the door for me?
I think it's a little bit old-fashioned now.
Unless you are very, very polite and elegant kind of person,
it might sound a little bit extra, a little bit too much
kindness, too much politeness.
You could otherwise just say, could you
help me by opening the door?
And our last one is so long.
So long.
Farewell.
So thank you for watching this lesson.
I really hope that you enjoyed it and learned
some new phrases.
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because it's really going to help this channel.
It's going to help me make more videos for you in future.
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Come join that, and I'll be very happy to see that.
Thank you so much, and come back again soon for a future lesson.
I'll see you then.
Bye.