5 exercises — forming so...that, such...that, and so that clauses correctly to express degree and consequence in postmortems and design docs.
Key patterns:
so + adjective + that — degree leading to a result
such a/an + adjective + noun + that — same idea with a noun phrase
so that (unsplit) — purpose or intended result
too...to — excess preventing an action, not a result clause
0 / 13 completed
1 / 13
A postmortem states: "The queue grew _____ large that the consumer service ran out of memory." Which word correctly completes this resultative structure?
"So" pairs with an adjective (so large that...) to form a resultative clause showing degree leading to a consequence. "Such" is used before a noun phrase instead (such a large queue that...), not directly before an adjective. "Too" implies excess without necessarily stating a result clause with "that", and "as" does not form this pattern at all.
2 / 13
Choose the sentence that correctly uses "such...that" with a noun phrase to express a technical result:
"Such a/an + adjective + noun + that" is the correct pattern for resultative clauses with countable singular nouns: such a high error rate that.... Option B incorrectly uses "so" before an article-noun combination. Option C reverses the word order of the article and adjective. Option D omits the article "a", which is required with a singular countable noun like "rate".
3 / 13
In a design doc: "The service is _____ tightly coupled to the legacy database _____ any migration requires a full rewrite." Which pair correctly forms a resultative clause?
"So...that" is correct because "tightly coupled" functions as an adjective phrase (past participle used adjectivally), and "so" directly precedes adjectives. "Such" (option A) would require a noun phrase, not an adjective. "Too...to" (option C) expresses a different meaning — excess preventing an action, using an infinitive rather than a result clause — and doesn't fit the "that" clause structure. "As...as" (option D) forms a comparison, not a result.
4 / 13
Which sentence correctly uses a resultative "so that" clause to express purpose/result in a code comment (note: "so that" here differs from "so...that")?
"So that" functions as a single subordinating conjunction introducing purpose or intended result, and should not be split or duplicated. Option A is correctly formed. Option B incorrectly separates "so" and "that" around the object. Option C adds unnecessary commas that disrupt the clause. Option D duplicates "that", which is a common error when writers confuse this pattern with the "so...that" degree construction.
5 / 13
A code review comment reads: "There were _____ many retries configured _____ the circuit breaker never actually opened." Which pair is grammatically correct for this quantity-based resultative clause?
"So...that" is correct before a quantifier + plural noun combination like so many retries that... — "so" modifies the quantifier "many" directly. "Such" (option A) would need to precede the full noun phrase without "many" doing the modifying work in the same way (such a number of retries would work, but not with "many" retained this way). "Too" (option C) changes the meaning to excess preventing something, and typically pairs with an infinitive, not "that". "As" (option D) does not form this resultative pattern.
6 / 13
John from DevOps flagged a recent deployment. 'The latency spiked _____ unexpectedly after the database schema update.' Which word best completes this resultative clause?
'As' introduces a resultative clause indicating a cause-and-effect relationship. The spike in latency *resulted from* the database update. Options 'so that', 'because', and 'while' do not accurately express this specific type of technical outcome. The key here is to identify the consequence of a preceding action.
7 / 13
John from DevOps flagged a recent deployment. 'The latency spiked _____ unexpectedly after the database schema update.' Which word best completes this resultative clause?
'As' introduces a resultative clause indicating a cause-and-effect relationship. The spike in latency *resulted from* the database update. Options 'so that', 'because', and 'while' do not accurately express this specific type of technical outcome. The key here is to identify the consequence of a preceding action.
8 / 13
John from DevOps flagged a recent deployment. 'The latency spiked _____ unexpectedly after the database schema update.' Which word best completes this resultative clause?
'As' introduces a resultative clause indicating a cause-and-effect relationship. The spike in latency *resulted from* the database update. Options 'so that', 'because', and 'while' do not accurately express this specific type of technical outcome. The key here is to identify the consequence of a preceding action.
9 / 13
Sarah from QA reported a critical issue during automated testing: 'The test suite failed _____ frequently due to intermittent network connectivity.' Which word best completes this resultative structure?
'So' is the correct conjunction here because it indicates a direct consequence or result. 'As' suggests a reason, 'because' introduces a clause of explanation, and 'while' denotes contrast, none of which fit the scenario describing frequent test failures stemming from connectivity problems. This construction highlights the *effect* of the intermittent network issues.
10 / 13
During a Slack conversation about a recent API deployment, David wrote: 'The response time was _____ slow that users reported significant delays when accessing the endpoint.' Which option correctly completes this resultative clause?
'Such' is the correct choice in this context. It's used to introduce a noun phrase that describes a degree or extent of something – specifically, the slow response time. 'Too' implies excess, 'so' indicates cause and effect, and 'like' introduces a comparison which isn't appropriate for quantifying a technical problem.
11 / 13
In a PR description for a new feature, Maria stated: 'The error logging was _____ verbose that it made debugging extremely difficult.' Which word best completes this resultative clause?
'Such' is the correct option here. It's used to emphasize the degree of verbosity – that the logging was excessively detailed. 'More' requires an adjective, 'so' indicates cause and effect, and 'very' is a less precise descriptor than 'such'. The goal is to illustrate the *impact* of the verbose logging on debugging efforts.
12 / 13
Ben, a senior developer, left this comment in a code review: 'The timeout value was set _____ low that requests were frequently failing.' Which word correctly completes the resultative structure?
'So' is the correct conjunction in this case. It indicates a direct consequence—the low timeout value *caused* the frequent failures. 'As' introduces a reason, 'such' requires a noun phrase, and 'then' denotes sequence or time, none of which fit the scenario describing failed requests due to the timeout setting.
13 / 13
During a standup update, Chloe reported: 'The database connection pool size was _____ small that we were constantly experiencing connection exhaustion.' Which word best completes this resultative clause?
'Such' is the appropriate choice here. It indicates a degree of insufficiency—the small pool size *resulted in* connection exhaustion. 'So' implies cause and effect but doesn't emphasize the extent of the problem; 'like' introduces a comparison, and 'then' denotes sequence or time. This highlights the direct consequence of the insufficient pool size on database operations.
What will I practise in "Resultative Clauses in Technical Writing — IT English Grammar Exercise"?
Practice resultative clause structures — so...that, such...that, so that — in postmortems, design docs, and code comments. 5 exercises, Advanced level.
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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