What are the differences between “hope to” and ”hope so”?

wangqh2696122What are the differences between “hope to” and ”hope so”?


Mary: What’s the matter with John?

Alice: He didn’t pass the test but he still hopes to. ( still thinks he can.)
He so hopes he can pass, or he hopes so much to pass. (he wants to pass a lot.)


A. hope to B.hope so

Neither answer is correct. It must read 'hopes to'. The question is odd, unless he can take the test again. 'Hopes to' is a shortened form of 'hopes to do so':

He didn’t pass the test but he still hopes to (do so).

I can't tell you offhand why 'hopes so' does not work here, but it does not. It certainly works with other verb forms:

He doesn't know

>>I am a Chinese, teaching English in China. Hope I can learn from you all.

There is no plural "you" in English, except in the South Eastern US States, where they sometimes say you-all or ya'll. By ending your sentence with "you all," you make it sound like a Southern dialect:^) Okay I guess, but a little more formal style would be "all of you."

Also, I think you can use "s

hopes so doesn't work because it's not a question of the truth of what preceded.

hopes so = hopes that it is [so / true] (where the identity of it has been explained earlier in the text).

Therefore, hopes so goes after statements of doubt about whether a proposition is true.

CJ

Thanks, Jim!