Semicolon with FANBOYS OG10 question

[Avinash_Tyagi]

20. An array of tax incentives has led to a boom in the construction of new office buildings; so abundant has
capital been for commercial real estate that investors regularly scour the country for areas in which to build.

(A) so abundant has capital been for commercial real estate that
(B) capital has been so abundant for commercial real estate, so that
(C) the abundance of capital for commercial real estate has been such,
(D) such has the abundance of capital been for commercial real estate that
(E) such has been an abundance of capital for commercial real estate,


Official answer is A

But I thought that you can't use FANBOYS words such as "so" after a semicolon? That you had to use a comma with fanboys, so I'm a little confused

[ArunangsuSahu]

so..that correct idiomatic expression here

so X that Y

[MakeUrTimeCount]

'so' can be used after semicolon. Here 'so' normally refer to meaning of "as well" or "in addition" . Hence, the usage is idiomitic.

Also as correctly mentioned by ArunangsuSahu, "so that" is correct usage.

One more thing to notice here is that, "such that" is also a correct usage.
so...that is used for the measure of something and goes with an adjective (so abundant, so long, so beautiful),
SO [ADVERB / ADJECTIVE] THAT

Tom is so cool that everyone wants to be his friend.

Such...that is used for nature of something and is followed by an abstract noun (such abundance, such length, such beauty)
SUCH [ADJECTIVE + NOUN] THAT

Such a great personality Tom has that everyone wants to be his friend.

But seperation of "has" and "been" makes D) vague and incorrect.

[avik.ch]

But I thought that you can't use FANBOYS words such as "so" after a semicolon? That you had to use a comma with fanboys, so I'm a little confused

First of all, I do not know what is FANBOYS. But I hope you are worried about - "so" after the semicolon as "so" at times are used as a subordinator/conjunction.

But the usage of "so" is quiet different here : So is acting as a adjective !! I will use the example stated by MakeUrTimeCount to manifest this :

Tom is so cool that everyone wants to be his friend.

Tom is very cool.
Evey one wants to be his friends.

the way to join the two clause, making the character "very cool" as a cause :

Tom is so cool that everyone wants to be his friend. here "so" is an adjective and "that" is just introducing the clause. So they make the pair - so X that Y, where Y is a subordinate clause and X is a noun or noun phrase.

Here :

"So" - has two function - grammar and meaning
"that" - has only one function - grammar ( adds no values to the meaning, except introducing the clause)

"Such ... that" also act in a same way.

so in the above sentence : "so" is an adjective, modifying "abundant" and at the same time pairing with "that" to introduce the clause.

Hope this helps !!

[GMAT_2010_2707]

so...that is used for the measure of something and goes with an adjective (so abundant, so long, so beautiful),
SO [ADVERB / ADJECTIVE] THAT

Tom is so cool that everyone wants to be his friend.

So in the above question - abundant has capital been for commercial real estate is an adverb or adjective? And what is it modifying?

[MakeUrTimeCount]

Let's rephrase the sentence is simple terms:

Original Sentence
so abundant has capital been for commercial real estate that .....

Rephrased Sentence
Capital has been so abundant for commercial real estate that .....

Here abundant is referring to Capital (which is a noun). So it is adjective.

If the sentence had been in the following format:
Capital seems so attractive for commercial real estate that .....

Here, 'attractive' is used as adverb. Because it modifies verb 'seems'.

Hope this clarifies your doubt.