Clauses that describe consequences are called clauses of result in English terminology. The traditional name in Latin grammar is consecutive clauses.
Clauses of result belong to the group of adverbial clauses.
The basic structures are
1 so that-clause (describing consequence/result)
2 so + adjective that-clause (consequence/result).
Examples
1a The gravestones were covered with moss so that it was impossible to read the names on them. (Longman DCE)
2a It was so cold that the water froze.
Of course, there are variants.
You can make such sentences clearer by inserting "consequence":
1b The gravestone were covered with moss.
The consequence was that it was impossible to read the names on them.
2b It was so cold and the consequence was that the water froze.
X
thatS
construction consists of two parts: a measure of some propertyX
marked with so (so high, so many webs, so little money, so interesting) followed by a result clauseS
marked with that (respectively, that nobody can climb it, that it looked like a horror movie, that they can't afford food, that I decided to stay another day). The result clause illustrates the degree asserted forX
. A stressed so is often used to mean very (I was so mad), but that's baby talk; so requires a that clause to make sense. – John Lawler May 27 '15 at 16:29