So...That and Such...That Result Clauses in Technical English
5 exercises — practise so...that and such...that result clauses in incident reports and specs.
0 / 13 completed
1 / 13
Choose the sentence with the correct pattern for describing degree before an adjective:
"So slow that" is correct: "so" is used directly before an adjective (or adverb) to express degree, followed by a "that"-clause stating the result. "Such" (options A and D), by contrast, is used before a noun phrase (optionally including an adjective), not before a bare adjective — "such a slow query", not "such slow" or "such a slow" without the following noun. Option C is ungrammatical, inserting an article between "so" and the adjective, which "so" never takes.
2 / 13
Choose the sentence with the correct pattern for describing degree before a noun phrase:
"Such a chaotic rollout" is correct: "such" is used before a full noun phrase (article + adjective + noun) to express degree leading to a result. Option A is ungrammatical — "so" cannot directly precede an article. Option B ("so chaotic a rollout") is a valid but much more formal, literary inversion pattern (so + adjective + article + noun) that is technically grammatical but unusual and stylistically out of place in typical technical writing; it is not the standard, expected pattern being tested here. Option C omits the required article "a" after "such", which is necessary before a singular countable noun like "rollout".
3 / 13
A postmortem states: "The retry logic caused _____ many duplicate requests that the payment gateway rate-limited us." Choose the correct quantity expression before "many" in a so/such result clause.
"So many" is the correct fixed pattern: "so" combines directly with the quantifiers "many" (for countable nouns) and "much" (for uncountable nouns) to express degree before a result clause — "so many duplicate requests", "so much traffic". "Such a" (option A) does not fit before a plural countable noun in this pattern at all. "Such" (option C) cannot combine directly with "many"; it would require the full noun phrase without "many" acting as the quantifier in this slot, e.g., "such a volume of duplicate requests". "So much" (option D) is used with uncountable nouns, but "duplicate requests" is countable and plural, requiring "many" instead.
4 / 13
Choose the sentence that correctly uses "so...that" with an adverb to describe how a deployment script behaved:
"So quickly that" is correct: "so" precedes the adverb "quickly" (not the adjective form "quick"), followed by "that" to introduce the result clause. Option A incorrectly uses "such" before an adverb, which is ungrammatical — "such" only precedes noun phrases, never adverbs. Option C incorrectly uses the adjective form "quick" where an adverb modifying the verb "executed" is required. Option D incorrectly uses "as" instead of "that" to introduce the result clause; "so...that" is the fixed pairing, and "as" does not substitute for "that" in this structure.
5 / 13
Which sentence correctly uses "such...that" with an uncountable noun to describe a result in a capacity planning document?
"Such unexpected demand" is correct: "demand" here is an uncountable noun, and "such" precedes uncountable noun phrases without an article — "such unexpected demand", not "such an unexpected demand". Option A incorrectly uses "as" instead of "that" to introduce the result clause, and also incorrectly treats "demand" as needing "so much" plus a noun rather than the correct "such" + noun pattern being tested — while "so much unexpected demand that" would be separately valid, pairing "so much" with "as" breaks the required "that" result-clause structure. Option B incorrectly adds the article "an" before an uncountable noun, which "such" does not require or allow with uncountable nouns. Option C incorrectly uses "so" directly before a noun phrase, which is ungrammatical since "so" requires an adjective, adverb, or quantifier like "much/many" immediately after it, not a bare noun phrase.
6 / 13
Reviewer: 'The unit tests for this component are failing consistently due to a race condition. It's producing results so unpredictable that we can't reliably use them for regression testing.' Which option best completes the sentence?
The correct use of so...that describes a consequence – the unpredictability *caused* by the race condition led to the inability to use the tests. Options A and B incorrectly suggest the unpredictable results were the *cause* of predictable testing, reversing the intended meaning. Option C is also incorrect as it suggests the tests were unusable; so...that describes a degree of something, not an outright failure.
7 / 13
Reviewer: 'The unit tests for this component are failing consistently due to a race condition. It's producing results so unpredictable that we can't reliably use them for regression testing.' Which option best completes the sentence?
The correct use of so...that describes a consequence – the unpredictability *caused* by the race condition led to the inability to use the tests. Options A and B incorrectly suggest the unpredictable results were the *cause* of predictable testing, reversing the intended meaning. Option C is also incorrect as it suggests the tests were unusable; so...that describes a degree of something, not an outright failure.
8 / 13
Reviewer: 'The unit tests for this component are failing consistently due to a race condition. It's producing results so unpredictable that we can't reliably use them for regression testing.' Which option best completes the sentence?
The correct use of so...that describes a consequence – the unpredictability *caused* by the race condition led to the inability to use the tests. Options A and B incorrectly suggest the unpredictable results were the *cause* of predictable testing, reversing the intended meaning. Option C is also incorrect as it suggests the tests were unusable; so...that describes a degree of something, not an outright failure.
9 / 13
Slack message from Sarah to the team: 'The new API endpoint is returning data so inconsistent that it's making automated reporting impossible. We need to investigate immediately.' Which clause best describes the situation?
Sarah uses 'so...that' to explain the *result* of the inconsistent data – it's preventing a specific action (reporting). The other options suggest alternative causes or desired outcomes rather than describing the consequence of the problem. It's crucial to understand that 'so…that' focuses on what happens *because* of something.
10 / 13
During a code review, John comments: 'The database query is taking an incredibly long time to execute – it's running for almost five minutes! It's such a complex operation that we can barely understand the performance bottlenecks.' Which clause correctly uses 'such…that'?
John uses 'such...that' to describe a *characteristic* of the complex operation – its long execution time. This emphasizes the degree or extent of the problem. The other options suggest ways to *change* the situation rather than describing its current state.
11 / 13
In a PR description for a new feature, David writes: 'The algorithm is now implemented in such a way that it processes all requests with minimal latency. It's achieving a response time of under 10ms, so the user experience is significantly improved.' Which expression correctly combines these clauses?
'Such...that' is used here to describe a specific *result* of the implementation – achieving low latency. The other options misinterpret the function of 'so…that' (describing cause and effect) or incorrectly state the desired outcome.
12 / 13
A standup update from Mark: 'We've been running tests so relentlessly that we've identified a critical memory leak in the core module. It's such a pervasive issue that it's affecting almost every service.' What does this sentence primarily demonstrate?
Mark uses 'so...that' to illustrate the *scope* or extent of the problem – the memory leak's wide-ranging effects. The other options suggest different outcomes or actions related to the situation.
13 / 13
Reviewer: 'The build process is taking an unexpectedly long time – it's consistently exceeding 30 minutes! It's such a convoluted pipeline that we can't easily identify the bottleneck.' Which of the following best explains the intended use of 'such...that'?
'Such…that' describes a characteristic of the complex pipeline – its convoluted nature. It highlights the *degree* of difficulty in identifying the source of the delay. The other options suggest attempts to fix or improve the situation rather than describing its current state.
What will I practise in "Result Clauses with so...that and such...that in Technical English — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise choosing between so + adjective/adverb and such + noun phrase to express degree leading to a result, in incident reports, postmortems, and capacity
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 13 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.