Grammar: so and such – the difference

We use so and such to give emphasis
It’s cold today – It’s SO cold today.
It’s a nice day – It’s SUCH a nice day.
SO – before adjectives or adverbs when there’s no noun
She’s so pretty. – Ella es tan guapa/linda. (so + adjective)
He speaks so quickly. – habla tan rápidamente. (so + adverb)
We can also use so with words like: much, little, few etc:
You shouldn’t smoke so much. – No debe fumar tanto.
There’s so little time
There are so few hours in the day
SUCH – before single countable nouns with an adjective:
He’s got such a nice car.
She’s such a pretty girl.
Also use SUCH before uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns:
We’re having such bad weather. – Estamos teniendo un tiempo tan malo (such + countable noun – sustantivo incontable)
They always buy such expensive presents. – Siempre compran esos regalos tan caros. (such + adjective + plural noun – sustantivo en plural)
so + adjective or adverb (adjetivo o adverbio)
such + noun (sustantivo) ( with or without adjective – con o sin adjetivo)
We’ve been moved by such kindness from our listeners.
For example:
His car is so nice.
It’s such a nice car.
She’s so pretty/gorgeous.
She’s such a pretty/gorgeous woman.
It’s so hot.
It’s such a hot day.
We can use SO and SUCH with THAT to show extremes that end in a result. In this case THAT is optional not compulsory:
He did such a good job on the software design (that) they gave him a full-time job with the company. – Hizo un trabajo tan bueno en el diseño de software que le dieron un puesto fijo en la empresa.
Valencia is so noisy in Fallas... that we tend to go away for the week.
Reza spoke so much about Mickey Mouse...that I banned speaking about mickey Mouse on the podcast.
Our listeners are so faithful to us that…..it’s a real pleasure to do this podcast for them!

Vocabulary: bear (noun), to bare and to bear

There are three words here. The easy one is the big growly creature (or Winnie-the-Pooh, Paddington, Baloo – who’s your favourite bear?). Baloo is Craig’s favourite bear. Reza likes Paddington Bear.
Don’t confuse the pronunciation of ‘bear’ with ‘beer’
The problem is the other two, ‘to bear’ and ‘to bare’.
Porters (maleteros / mozos de estación, de cuerda) bear heavy sacks and burdens (cargas) on their backs and mothers bear children.
Both mean “carry”
Mothers bear babies in their bodies for 9 months before birth.
Strippers bare their bodies—sometimes bare-naked. I was ‘bare-naked’ means not wearing any clothes.
“Bear with me,” the standard expression, is asking the listener for patience – to keep listening.
“Bear with me for a minute”. ¡OJO! – If I said “Bare with me” that would be an invitation to undress.
“Bare” is also used as an adjective: “The illegal loggers cut down so many trees that they stripped the forest bare.”
The adjective bare means uncovered, naked or exposed (without cover or clothing)
Examples:
Have you run on the beach with bare feet?
Craig made lunch with his bare hands. (not bear hands)
The bare truth.
Who will bear the responsibility for this podcast?
Who do you bear a resemblance to in your family?
Reza bears a resemlance to his older brother.
Does this document bear your signature? – Do it have your signature?
I can’t bear the heat in Valencia in August. – To endure or to tolerate (sufrir, aguantar, tolerar)
To maintain a direction.
Bear left after the traffic lights.
“It is very easy to endure the difficulties of one’s enemies. It is the successes of one’s friends that are hard to bear.” (Oscar Wilde)
Weekly wind-ups
to wind up = annoy, irritate, bother: fastidiar, disgustar, molestar
‘A pet hate’, or ‘a pet peeve’is something that annoys you very much (it doesn’t mean that you hate pets!)
What winds Reza up? – Queue-jumpers – people who jump the queue really drive Reza crazy.
Craig hates it when people hold up the queue while they’re taking out their money.
What winds Craig up? – Spitting on the street (to spit = escupir) / clearing your throat in public.
 

*Dispones de más PODCAST en inglés publicados en los cuadernos anteriores
a los que puedes acceder directamente así como al índice de su contenido.