Learn English – Alternatives to “Or so I thought”

Such an interesting question! Such thought-provoking remarks in the comments beneath the question!

Such comments make me wonder, what is the best way to answer such a query? Maybe a few things need to be addressed first, such as:

• What is the meaning of such?
• How is it used in conversation and such?
• What is grammatical, and what sounds natural?

A good online dictionary, such as Wordnik, might help. There, we can find such a great number of meanings and examples, that it will become readily apparent that such a question is not so easily answered. English can be such a hard thing to fully grasp, particularly when dealing with such words – words that can be used in such a myriad of ways! After all, many words, though but one word, can be used as different parts of speech: adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and such; such is one such word.

Really, Ivan, you should go visit such a website, and behold the diverse ways such a simple word can be used. Such a curious man is bound to learn something from such a great smattering of examples!

_{which is to say, there's no EASY way to tell when to use "such", and when to use "such a" - the word is simply too flexible to nail down in such a fashion...}

Parishioner and congregant refer to members of a particular local faith community. The requirements for membership, of course, vary considerably, but for the most part, simply attending services at a church does not make one a parishioner or congregant of that church any more than visiting a country makes one a citizen of it.

Sectarian considerations govern which is the more appropriate term.

Parishioner is older by a good measure. A parish is an ecclesiastical territory, a section of an episcopal see (e.g. a diocese or archdiocese). Traditionally, any inhabitant of that territory would have been expected to attend services at the local parish church, and all would have been parishioners. The Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches remain organized in this manner, but the term "parish" is used even by some denominational bodies without episcopal administration, so making the members parishioners.

Congregant is broader, in that it refers to the regular members of any local congregation. That local congregation may be a parish, but it might also be a local church or meeting house of a tradition that does not use the term parish, such as the Baptists or Mormons— or for that matter, Muslims or Jews.

To refer more generally to those attending services at a particular time, you could simply say worshippers or attendees; for all adherents, there are a variety of terms employed, such as the brethren or the faithful, or the more mundane churchgoers or the observant; communicants captures the sense of those in communion with the Church as opposed to outsiders.