Learn English – Usage of “so” in a sentence that follows as a conclusion of the previous sentence(s)

conjunctionssentenceusage

I have seen people using "So" (followed by a comma) in the beginning of a sentence written as a conclusion of what is written in the previous sentence(s). For example: "I was sick yesterday. So, I could not attend the school." Often, I also find people using "so" to introduce the second part of a single sentence as in "It was still painful so I went to see a doctor." Is the sentence in second example correct? To me, correct rule of using "so" is the way it is used in the first example. Or, it may be that I am mistaken. Can anyone tell me all the correct rules for this particular sort of usage of "so".

Best Answer

There is no advantage in writing "I was sick yesterday. So, I could not attend the school." rather than as one sentence, with so as a conjunction: "I was sick yesterday, so I could not attend the school." Sometimes the comma is desirable, but not in all cases.

You can use So at the start of a sentence, when the first clause is your aim, and the second clause is how to achieve it: "So that the children did their homework, there was no TV before dinner."

And So is sometimes (fairly informally) used to introduce a story or a question: "So - here is my situation - in April my husband and I are spending a week in Paris, and would like to know the must-sees.".