词典词条 · 问答

such/so

核心问题

(1)“What a beautiful day!

"Yes. It's ____ that I'd like to take a walk."

A. such nice weather B. a so nice weather

C. too nice weather D. nice weather so(TOEFL)

(2) It is ____ that we'll have to be very careful.

A. a so big work B. a so big job C. such a big job D. such a big work(全国研考)为什么句(1)只能选 A(such nice weather),而不能选 B(so nice weather),句(2)只能选 C(such a big job)而不能选 B(so big job)? 据我所知,so + 形容词 + 名词也是一个正确的结构,例如:He has so much work to do that he is staying late at the office.

词典解答

首先应当弄清楚,so 是个副词,可以放在形容词或副词之前作状语(如 so beautiful, so good),而 such 是个形容词,用来修饰名词,作定语。当名词之前有另外的形容词时,则在此形容词之前一般既可以用 such,也可以用 so。但是,在这两种结构中,不定冠词 a(an) 的位置是不同的:such a beautiful girl, such a lovely day, so beautiful a girl, so lovely a day。不难看出, 句(2)中的 B(a so big job)是不符合这个条件的(改成 so big a job 就可以用了)。那么, 为什么句(1)不能选用 B(so nice weather)呢? 这是因为: 当名词为不可数名词或复数名词时, 不能使用 so, 而必须使用 such。也就是说, so 一般用于 so...a(an)结构。因此之故, 选 B(so nice weather)是错误的(weather 为不可数名词)。你可能反驳说: 为什么可以说 so much work 呢? work 不就是不可数名词吗?

对于这个问题我们的回答是: 当名词之前有表示数量的词语(如 many, much, few, little)时, 则只能使用 so 来修饰它们, 而不能使用 such:

  1. They have only so much time to do their lessons. (DAI) 他们只有这么些时间做功课。

  2. He didn't invite us in so many words, he just asked whether we were coming. (LDCE) 他并没有说很多话来邀请我们,他只是问我们是不是去。

  3. I have so few books. 我就这么几本书。

  4. He has so little information. 他只有那么一点点儿信息。

[附注]不难推论,当 little 作“小的”解时,就可以使用 such 了:such a little animal(这样小的动物)。

请做下面的试题:

  1. It was ____ that we had gone for a walk.A. so beautiful day B. such beautiful a night C. such a beautiful weather D. so beautiful a night(TOEFL)

  2. Today was such beautiful day that I couldn't bring myself to complete all my chores. A B C D

来源:英语常见问题解答大词典-8.md · 第 46064642 行 · 原文哈希 e2f9eb6f34