A question for dave_anon
Thank you for giving me a good reply and I have a question about so that~can structure in your reply. I tried to understand the sentence and I was wondering if the structure meant a purpose or a result?
I have learned that so that with a comma means a result like 'I had broken my glasses, so that I couldn't see what was happening.'
And so that structures without a comma and with can, may, etc mean a purpose like 'I am studying hard so that I can pass the exam.'
And I feel like I can interpret your sentence in two ways or could you tell me what the intended meaning was?
Thank you so much as usual in advance.
Top answer
Hi Hans That's interesting. Without thinking, I broke the sentence with an adverb, with commas, so it's not clear whether I meant 'purpose' or 'result' - Sometimes I deliberately knit bad stitches so that I can understand what will happen - Sometimes I knit bad stitches, so that my knitting becomes a complete mess The first is purpose, the second result; and I've followed the rules that you mention I can see the logic of the rules but, to be honest, I say the sentence in my head and put a comma in if there's a one-beat pause in the sentence. So, personally, I wouldn't think it wrong to write: - Sometimes I deliberately knit bad stitches, so that I can understand what will happen The rule is good, but my view is that it won't always stand: I think the commas are there to show the natural pause of breath or thought.
- Hi Hans That's interesting.
- Without thinking, I broke the sentence with an adverb, with commas, so it's not clear whether I meant 'purpose' or 'result' - Sometimes I deliberately knit bad stitches so that I can understand what will happen - Sometimes I knit bad stitches, so that my knitting becomes a complete mess The first is purpose, the second result; and I've followed the rules that you mention I can see the logic of the rules but, to be honest, I say the sentence in my head and put a comma in if there's a one-beat pause in the sentence.
- So, personally, I wouldn't think it wrong to write: - Sometimes I deliberately knit bad stitches, so that I can understand what will happen The rule is good, but my view is that it won't always stand: I think the commas are there to show the natural pause of breath or thought.
- Not always to mark the logic of a sentence Best regards, Dave
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That's interesting. Without thinking, I broke the sentence with an adverb, with commas, so it's not clear whether I meant 'purpose' or 'result'
- Sometimes I deliberately knit bad stitches so that I can understand what will happen
- Sometimes I knit bad stitches, so that my knitting becomes a complete mess
The first is purpose, the second result; and I'
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