esou ... datt

So ... That: Esou ... Datt

Level 4

Esou + adjective or adverb ..., datt ... expresses a result: Hie war esou midd, datt hien direkt ageschlof ass. (He was so tired that he fell asleep right away.)

How It Works

1. How it is built
Put esou before an adjective or adverb, then add a comma and a datt clause:

  • D'Waasser ass esou kloer, datt ee bis op de Buedem gesäit. (The water is so clear that you can see to the bottom.)
  • Den Hotel huet eis esou gutt gefall, datt mer d'nächst Joer erëmkommen. (We liked the hotel so much that we are coming back next year.)

The datt clause has its verb at the end. See That: Datt.

2. With amounts
Use esou vill (so much, so many) and esou wéineg (so little, so few):

  • Et huet esou vill gereent, datt d'Stroossen iwwerschwemmt waren.
  • Et hate sech esou wéineg Leit ugemellt, datt de Cours ofgesot gouf.

3. Esou datt together
Without an adjective, esou datt means so or with the result that: Op der Autobunn war e Stau, esou datt ech ze spéit koum. It can also be written soudatt or esoudatt.

4. Sou
In speech, sou often replaces esou: Hie war sou midd, datt ... Both are correct.

5. Do not confuse

  • Esou ... wéi compares two things: Hien ass esou grouss wéi ech.
  • Fir datt gives a purpose (so that something will happen), not a result.

Examples (6)

  1. Hie war esou midd, datt hien direkt ageschlof ass.

    He was so tired that he fell asleep right away.

  2. Et huet esou vill gereent, datt d'Stroossen iwwerschwemmt waren.

    It rained so much that the streets were flooded.

    Esou vill with a verb: so much.

  3. D'Waasser ass esou kloer, datt ee bis op de Buedem gesäit.

    The water is so clear that you can see to the bottom.

    Een loses its n before b.

  4. Den Hotel huet eis esou gutt gefall, datt mer d'nächst Joer erëmkommen.

    We liked the hotel so much that we're coming back next year.

    The separable verb is one word at the end: erëmkommen.

  5. Et hate sech esou wéineg Leit ugemellt, datt de Cours ofgesot gouf.

    So few people had signed up that the course was cancelled.

    Esou wéineg with a noun: so few.

  6. Op der Autobunn war e Stau, esou datt ech ze spéit koum.

    There was a traffic jam on the motorway, so I was late.

    Esou datt without an adjective means so, as a result.

Common Mistakes

  • Using wéi instead of datt for a result.

    Hie war esou midd, wéi hien direkt ageschlof ass.
    Hie war esou midd, datt hien direkt ageschlof ass.

    Esou ... wéi compares two things. For a result, the second part starts with datt.

  • Leaving the verb in second place in the datt clause.

    Et war esou kal, datt d'Diere si festgefruer.
    Et war esou kal, datt d'Diere festgefruer sinn.

    Datt sends the conjugated verb to the end of its clause.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

esou ... dattLevel 4So ... That: Esou ... Datt

Learn This First

Before So ... That: Esou ... datt, learn That: Datt and As ... As: Esou ... wéi.

Words in This Pattern

esouesou datt