so that

English

Etymology

From Middle English so that, so þat, sa þat, swo þat, swa þat, from Old English swā þæt, equivalent to so +‎ that. Cognate with Saterland Frisian sodät, West Frisian sadat, Dutch zodat, German sodaß, sodass.

Conjunction

so that

1. Indicates purpose; in order that, with the result that.

   He must die so that others might live.

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., →OCLC:

     He seized his axe, which he had made very sharp, and as the leader of the wolves came on the Tin Woodman swung his arm and chopped the wolf's head from its body, so that it immediately died.

2. Indicates purpose; in such a way that, with the intent that.

   He tied a complex knot so that others would find it hard to undo.

   • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01:

     The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

Usage notes

• “So that” prefaces a subordinate clause to show purpose or to give an explanation. It demonstrates a correlation between an antecedent action and an intended consequent. In a clause 1 “so that” clause2 format, the first clause represents an antecedent proposition and the second clause constitutes a consequence/effect. In a “So that” clause 1 [comma], clause 2 format, the first clause is the intended consequent and the second clause is the antecedent proposition.

Synonyms

• in order that
• that (conjunction)

Related terms

• in order
• in order for
• in order to

Translations

in order to

• Afrikaans: sodat (af)
• Arabic: حَتَّى (ar) (ḥattā)
• Belarusian: каб (kab)
• Bengali: যাতে (jate)
• Bikol Central: tanganing (bcl)
• Catalan: perquè (ca) (+ subjunctive), (colloquial Valencian) per a que (ca) (+ subjunctive)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 以便 (zh) (yǐbiàn), 為了／为了 (zh) (wèile)

• Czech: aby (cs)
• Dutch: zodat (nl), opdat (nl)
• Esperanto: por ke (+ jussive), tiel ke
• Finnish: jotta (fi) (in order that); niin, että (with the result that)
• French: de sorte que (fr), pour que (fr) (+ subjunctive), afin que (fr) (+ subjunctive), afin de (fr) (+ infinitive)

  Middle French: affin que

• German: damit (de), sodass (de)
• Hebrew: כדי ש- (k’dey she-), (formal) על מנת ש- (he) (‘al menát she-)
• Hindi: ताकि (hi) (tāki)
• Hungarian: hogy (hu), azért, hogy
• Icelandic: þannig að
• Indonesian: agar (id), supaya (id)
• Ingrian: jot, jos, eik
• Irish: i riocht is go, ar nós go, sa chaoi go, ionas go
• Italian: cosicché (it), perché (it)
• Japanese: ...ために (ja) (...tame ni)
• Khmer: ដើម្បី (km) (daəmbəy)
• Latin: ut (la) (+ subjunctive)
• Latvian: tāpēc, tāpēc ka
• Malay:

  Jawi: اݢر, سوڤايا

  Rumi: agar (ms), supaya

• Ngazidja Comorian: ili (+ subjunctive)
• Polish: żeby (pl), aby (pl), by (pl), ażeby (pl)
• Portuguese: para que n, de modo que
• Russian: так что (ru) (tak što), что́бы (ru) (štóby), чтоб (ru) (štob), да́бы (ru) (dáby) (archaic, poetic)
• Scottish Gaelic: air chor 's gu
• Slovak: aby
• Spanish: para que (es) (+ subjunctive), de modo que (+ subjunctive), de manera que
• Swedish: så att, så (sv) (sloppier version, similar to English)
• Tok Pisin: olsem na
• Turkish: ki (tr)
• Ukrainian: щоб (uk) (ščob), що́би (ščóby), аби́ (uk) (abý)
• Volapük: dat (vo)
• West Frisian: sadat, sa't
• Yiddish: בכדי (bikhdéy)

in such a way that, with the intent that

• Finnish: siten, että (in such a way that); jotta (fi) (with the intent that)
• Ingrian: jot, jos, eik
• Swedish: så att, så (sv) (sloppier version, similar to English), för att (sv)

References

• “so that”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “so that”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Shatto, atshot, shotta