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Conversational
Language (#15):
Short Expressions of Agreement
(#1)
In conversational American
English, short expressions
of agreement are commonly used
when one person has
the same idea as
another. These
short expressions have
several different forms. One type is used for two
statements
which are both affirmative ( + ):
| A
says: |
|
I'm
cold. |
| B
thinks: |
|
I'm
also cold. |
| B
says: |
|
Me,
too. |
Me, too can be used to refer to any verb
tense or verb
form:
A
says: |
|
B thinks the same
thing and
says: |
| I'm
hungry. |
|
Me,
too. |
| I want some chocolate. |
|
Me, too. |
| I'm feeling
tired. |
|
Me,
too. |
| I was also tired yesterday. |
|
Me, too. |
| I could go to sleep
right now. |
|
Me,
too. |
| I've been working hard. |
|
Me, too. |
| I worked hard
yesterday. |
|
Me,
too. |
| I'll work hard tomorrow. |
|
Me, too. |
| I'd love to take a
vacation! |
|
Me,
too! |
_______________________________________________
Another
type of short expression
of agreement for two
affirmative
( + ) statements is also very common,
but its
grammar
is
more complicated:
A
says: |
|
B thinks the same
thing and
says: |
| I'm
hungry. |
|
So
am I. |
| I want some
chocolate. |
|
So
do I. |
| I'm feeling
tired. |
|
So
am I. |
| I was also tired
yesterday. |
|
So
was I. |
| I could go to sleep
right now. |
|
So
could I. |
| I've been working
hard. |
|
So
have I. |
| I worked hard
yesterday. |
|
So
did I. |
| I'll work hard
tomorrow. |
|
So
will I. |
| I'd love to take a
vacation! |
|
So
would I. |
This
type of short expression
of agreement has three
parts:
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
So |
|
BE, auxiliary, do
/ does
/ did |
|
subject |
The second part "echoes"
the verb
form in the first sentence
(BE, an auxiliary verb, or--if the verb isn't BE
and doesn't
have an auxiliary--
do / does / did).
A says: |
|
B thinks the same
thing and
says: |
| Susie's from Texas. |
|
So is Bill. |
| Susie comes from
Texas. |
|
So
does Bill. |
| John's living in
Chicago. |
|
So
are Tom and Kay. |
| You
were at the mall. |
|
So were you. |
| I should do my
homework. |
|
So
should all of us. |
| We've
been working hard. |
|
So have they. |
| Betty worked hard
yesterday. |
|
So
did Lucy. |
| Joe will help
us. |
|
So
will Tony. |
| I'd better leave
now. |
|
So
had I. |
Special Note:
As you can see, part 3 of
the form with so can be a pronoun
or a noun phrase.
More examples:
A: Bob loves chocolate.
B: So do his brother and
sister.
A:
Jim has visited New York
many times.
B: So have John and his
family.
A:
I'm almost ready to leave.
B: So are the rest of the
people in the room.
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