I understand that "so" and "very" are similar in meaning, with "so" perhaps being a little stronger:
"I'm very happy today."
"I'm so happy today."
I also understand that "so" can be used to give reasons for something, while "very" can't.
"I am so late that I need to call an uber."
"I am very late that I need to call an uber." (Incorrect)
However, I don't understand the reason why you can't use "very" in the same way you use "so" in the construction below:
"She never saw someone work so hard like him."
"She never saw someone work very hard like him." (Seems incorrect)
The second sentence sounds incorrect to me, but I don't know why. Does anyone know the grammar rulling here?
Adj
thatS
, whereS
is some proposition affected by the degree ofX
: He was so drunk that he fainted. Clearly he was very drunk if he fainted, but the so says precisely how much in the extra clause. If you use so without a resultant clause you're not being grammatical.