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so as to vs so that
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confuse mind
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What is the difference in the usage? Please help...
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Mike@Magoosh
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Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this. 
Both of these are conjunctions that can mean "in order to"
1) I went into town so as to see Marcia before she left.
2) I went into town so that I could see Marcia before she left.
#1 is perfect, formal, and completely up to GMAT SC standards.
#2 --- well, hmmm --- it's a bit colloquial, a bit too wordy and indirect, and, I believe, not quite up to GMAT standards. I can't find a prooftext in the OG, but I would be surprised if something like #2 were ever correct for a SC question.
The "so that" construction would be much closer to acceptable if the two subjects were not the same.
3) I lent Robert my car, so that he could drive to town and see Marcia before she leaves.
In this case, the "so as to" construction would be too wordy and indirect. Here, I believe the GMAT would accept sentence #3 as correct, but again, I can't find a prooftext.
I will hasten to add: one form that is perfectly correct is the construction
...so [adjective] that...
For example,
4) Jupiter is so large that, if it were hollow, a thousand Earths could fit inside.
5) The city of Murmansk is so far north that it undergoes more than two full months of sunless darkness in the middle of winter.
Those are perfectly correct questions, up to GMAT SC standards. Also correct is the construction
...so [adjective] as to ...
6) Mariano Rivera is so dominant a closer as to top the career rankings in Adjusted ERA+.
Here's a related practice SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1149
When you submit an answer, the following page will have a complete video explanation. Each of our 800+ GMAT questions has its own video explanation, for accelerated learning.
Does all this make sense? Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike
Both of these are conjunctions that can mean "in order to"
1) I went into town so as to see Marcia before she left.
2) I went into town so that I could see Marcia before she left.
#1 is perfect, formal, and completely up to GMAT SC standards.
#2 --- well, hmmm --- it's a bit colloquial, a bit too wordy and indirect, and, I believe, not quite up to GMAT standards. I can't find a prooftext in the OG, but I would be surprised if something like #2 were ever correct for a SC question.
The "so that" construction would be much closer to acceptable if the two subjects were not the same.
3) I lent Robert my car, so that he could drive to town and see Marcia before she leaves.
In this case, the "so as to" construction would be too wordy and indirect. Here, I believe the GMAT would accept sentence #3 as correct, but again, I can't find a prooftext.
I will hasten to add: one form that is perfectly correct is the construction
...so [adjective] that...
For example,
4) Jupiter is so large that, if it were hollow, a thousand Earths could fit inside.
5) The city of Murmansk is so far north that it undergoes more than two full months of sunless darkness in the middle of winter.
Those are perfectly correct questions, up to GMAT SC standards. Also correct is the construction
...so [adjective] as to ...
6) Mariano Rivera is so dominant a closer as to top the career rankings in Adjusted ERA+.
Here's a related practice SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1149
When you submit an answer, the following page will have a complete video explanation. Each of our 800+ GMAT questions has its own video explanation, for accelerated learning.
Does all this make sense? Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
https://gmat.magoosh.com/
https://gmat.magoosh.com/
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verbaldude
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Hi Mike! I found an interesting old GMAT question from the OG10:Mike@Magoosh wrote:Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this.
Both of these are conjunctions that can mean "in order to"
1) I went into town so as to see Marcia before she left.
2) I went into town so that I could see Marcia before she left.
#1 is perfect, formal, and completely up to GMAT SC standards.
#2 --- well, hmmm --- it's a bit colloquial, a bit too wordy and indirect, and, I believe, not quite up to GMAT standards. I can't find a prooftext in the OG, but I would be surprised if something like #2 were ever correct for a SC question.
The "so that" construction would be much closer to acceptable if the two subjects were not the same.
3) I lent Robert my car, so that he could drive to town and see Marcia before she leaves.
In this case, the "so as to" construction would be too wordy and indirect. Here, I believe the GMAT would accept sentence #3 as correct, but again, I can't find a prooftext.
I will hasten to add: one form that is perfectly correct is the construction
...so [adjective] that...
For example,
4) Jupiter is so large that, if it were hollow, a thousand Earths could fit inside.
5) The city of Murmansk is so far north that it undergoes more than two full months of sunless darkness in the middle of winter.
Those are perfectly correct questions, up to GMAT SC standards. Also correct is the construction
...so [adjective] as to ...
6) Mariano Rivera is so dominant a closer as to top the career rankings in Adjusted ERA+.
Here's a related practice SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1149
When you submit an answer, the following page will have a complete video explanation. Each of our 800+ GMAT questions has its own video explanation, for accelerated learning.
Does all this make sense? Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike
OG-10-SC67
Congress is debating a bill requiring certain employers provide workers with unpaid leave so as to care for sick or newborn children.
1. provide workers with unpaid leave so as to
2. to provide workers with unpaid leave so as to
3. provide workers with unpaid leave in order that they
4. to provide workers with unpaid leave so that they can
5. provide workers with unpaid leave and
In that particular question, the official answer prefers the wordier version "so that" because using "so as to" fails to specify that the workers will be the ones caring for the infants and children. It's a meaning issue. At the beginning I thought the pronoun "they" could be ambiguous, but it logically refers to "workers." I just wanted to share this information. Have fun with the GMAT!
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rishab0507
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I think it's more than wordy and not wordy in this OG problem.
If you refer to use of THAT : gmat says use That, in sentences in which there is something Directed, fact stated, resulted, said, implemented. Something what Subject/ Noun want imply / state/ do action
Here Congress is debating for some reason : The reason is they want to take some action, So use of THAT is more clear rather than So as To
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Upvote if you its of least help to you
If you refer to use of THAT : gmat says use That, in sentences in which there is something Directed, fact stated, resulted, said, implemented. Something what Subject/ Noun want imply / state/ do action
Here Congress is debating for some reason : The reason is they want to take some action, So use of THAT is more clear rather than So as To
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Upvote if you its of least help to you
