What is the real meaning of SO THAT in a sentence? SO THAT can assume different meanings with respect to its position and the perspective of the writer. Mainly, it has three uses. 1. So that = if that is the case; to what purpose or end; in order that Here the clause after SO THAT answers WHY. Can you budge a little so that I too can sit here. I put on a hairband so that my hair won't fall on the face. In this usage, THAT is optional. Can you budge a little so I too can sit here. However, in the above-mentioned sentence, you should not mistake SO for the coordinating conjunction SO, which means "therefore." 2. So that = in such a way that; to what style In this usage, THAT is actually an elaboration on the introductory SO. Here the clause after SO THAT answers HOW. He designed the chair so that each was laid out two feet apart. He aligned the paragraphs so that they kept adequate distance from one another. 3. So .... that = how much; to what extent. In this usage, SO come...

The dictionary says this word is both countable (at least singular) and uncountable; where should I use it as a countable with an indefinite pronoun (a/an), and where should I use it as an uncountable noun (with no article, just the noun)? This is a question that many article-usage-obsessed ESL learners ask when they see an English word that the dictionaries mark as both uncountable and countable. This idea applies to 90 percent of uncountable nouns. This is a 90%-accurate answer to the question. Such nouns are uncountable when they mean the total PROCESS , and they are countable (at least singular) when they mean a single INCIDENT, INSTANCE, or ACT of that process. For example, RAPE is a noun that is marked as both. 1. He was convicted of rape.  Here, rape is an uncountable noun because it is intended as a term or process. 2. What happened to her was a mind-numbing rape. Here, rape is countable because we are referring to one instance of rape. 3. We get less rain year-round...

What is the difference between a job, work, and labor? As simple as they might sound, there is a subtle difference between them. A job (countable) is a profession that a person undertakes for a living, such as a doctor, a teacher, etc. Work (uncountable) is the collective set of responsibilities or activities that a person has to carry out in his or job. The work of a teacher, for example, includes teaching, conducting exams, keeping order in the class, etc. Labor (uncountable) is the amount of physical effort a person needs to put into his or her work. A teacher needs to put in less labor, whereas a bricklayer a lot. As a bonus, we usually call people who are in hard-labor jobs "laborers," whereas we call people with white-collar jobs rather "employees."