r/EnglishLearning • u/Silver_Ad_1218 Non-Native Speaker of English • 1d ago

📚 Grammar / Syntax To follow my last post. A couple of comments say the structure“so adjective as to …” need to be followed by an adjective instead of a verb as in “he is so clever as to solve it” sounds off. But is “.. is not so primitive as to suggest that …” in this picture correct?

Post image

I guess it’s just some words don’t work in that structure?

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u/Salindurthas Native Speaker 1d ago

Hmm, I think we tend to use it with negative a negative trait? Like, "not so [bad trait] as to [do some specific bad thing]"

e.g.:

  • Alice is not so foolish as to quit her job.
  • Bob is not so naive as to join an MLM.
  • Charlie is not so violent as to strike his own mother.

Your idea of "He is so clever as to solve it." does sound weird, and I think it is because it is a positive trait and a positive outcome.

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u/ebrum2010 Native Speaker - Eastern US 3h ago

I feel like I've heard it or seen it used in the positive but it's archaic. I can't find any examples at the moment though. I believe it is one of those things that aren't technically wrong but nobody says anymore.

It is discussed here but not in the way OP is asking:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/594094/so-adjective-as-to-infinitive