Dear anurag16,

I'm happy to respond.

The short answer to your question is that the word "so" has more than one use.

One use of "so" is as a subordinate conjunction. For example:
The student walked in late, so the teacher yelled at him.
Notice that this sentence has only one independent clause.
independent clause = the student walked in late
subordinate clause = so the teacher yelled at him
Notice that in any subordinate clause that begins with a subordinate conjunction, it is true 100% of the time that if we were to remove the subordinate conjunction, what follows could function as an independent clause. Nevertheless, as long as that subordinate conjunction is there, we are not allowed to count it as an independent clause. See:
GMAT Grammar: “On a White Bus” with Subordinate Conjunctions

In this SC problem, we are NOT using "so" as a subordinate conjunction.

A completely different use of "so" is as an intensifier for an adjective, in the structure:
so [adjective] that . . .
The Antarctic winter is so cold that frostbite occurs almost instantaneously.
Notice, it would be 100% correct and even quite sophisticated to change the word order:
So cold is the Antarctic winter that frostbite occurs almost instantaneously.
The word "so" has to come immediately before the adjective it intensifies, but there's no rule that the word "that" has to come right after. In fact, this latter wording is typical of very high quality writing because rhetorically it emphasizes both the adjective and the logical tension in the sentence. We hear "So cold is the . . . " and it immediately creates the question in the reader "how cold is it?" The sentence creates that tension and satisfies it only in the second half: this is a brilliant rhetorical device that elicits the reader's curiosity and draws the reader to read the entire sentence with that much more interest and attention. It is a particular example of the way in which a skilled writer might hook a reader's attention and drive that attention through the length of the piece.

This is precisely the rhetorical device that appears in (A), the OA.
. . . so abundant has capital been for commercial real estate that investors regularly scour the country for areas in which to build.
This is an independent clause. Perhaps this would be more clear if we were to change the word order to a more prosaic, pedestrian, and un-dramatic version, the "white bread only" phrasing of the information:
. . . capital for commercial real estate has been so abundant that investors regularly scour the country for areas in which to build.
This latter version makes the grammatical structure clearer to folks struggling to see this structure, but ultimately, that is not how language is used in the real world. In the real world, the artful use of language involves using all the elements of language together to communicate one's meaning most powerfully, and this is what version (A) does well.

Of course, what is so brilliant about using this sophisticated rhetorical construction after a semicolon is that all the students who mistake this for the subordinate conjunction use of "so" will think it's wrong! Among other things, it's a brilliant test about the difference between two very different uses of "so"! Official questions are always so brilliantly designed! As someone who writes questions professionally, I am continually in awe of the quality of the official questions!

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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I pick A

The origininal sentence can be re-constructed as:

"An array of tax incentives has led to a boom in the construction of new office buildings; capital for commercial real estate has been so abundant that investors regularly scour the country for areas in which to build"

I think A is the best choice

B. so ..., so that makes the sentence fragmented
C. it's wordy. the comma after such makes the sentence fragmented
D. it's wordy
E. run-on sentence

In a normal written English, the sentence should have been (as I quoted earlier) like this: "An array of tax incentives has led to a boom in the construction of new office buildings; the capital for commercial real estate has been so abundant that investors regularly scour the country for areas in which to build."

However, GMAT altered the perfectly fine sentence to something appearing to be incorrect but is actually gramatically correct.

For example, one can say,"I would go home" or "Home I would go" are two perfectly correct sentences that has the same meaning.

idiom so x that y.. only A.

aragonn GMATNinja broall hazelnut generis AjiteshArun
In this SC problem
B is wrong because of incorrect idiom so...so that
C and E that is missing
Why D is wrong ?

Hello daagh sir,
Would appreciate your help to understand why option D of this problem is wrong. I understand that option A is correct, but not getting enough long to cancel out D.


Regards,
Tamal

Posted from my mobile device

As far as I know 'so' is coordinating conjunction(FANBOYS). Can 'so' also act as subordinating conjunction(on a white bus)?
Also, Magoosh blog (https://magoosh.com/gmat/2017/gmat-gram ... junctions/ ) cited by mikemcgarry has 'so' as subordinating conjunction.

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis , jennpt , other experts
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Skywalker18 , yes. So can be a subordinating conjunction, but an admittedly limited data survey suggests that GMAC prefers the phrase "so that" over "so."

In formal writing generally, so is a subordinating conjunction when so implies purpose or result.
Often the construction is so that.

I reviewed OG 2020 to ensure that my impression from past reviews of questions was accurate.
A single official guide is not a completely reliable indicator of GMAC's position, but the guide's ~130 questions confirmed what I recalled.

Official guide patterns emerge.

-- The word so is not used alone to suggest consequence or purpose. In formal writing, often we are allowed to drop the word that, but GMAC does not seem to like the idea of dropping that.
If "so" seems to be suggesting purpose or causality, do not eliminate the answer on that basis alone unless you are down to two and the other answer uses "so that."
In other words, it is possible but unlikely that so has been used alone (or could be used alone) as a subordinating conjunction.

-- Language in the official explanations refers to so that as a causal phrase and thus indicates in a roundabout way that GMAC considers so that a subordinating conjunction. Examples are beneath the spoiler.

Spoiler alert: to discuss so that, I reveal five incorrect answers from four official questions.



Other sources that confirm the usage of so that as a subordinating conjunction.

Oxford Online Dictionary (1.1) , here. The example sentence is
It was overgrown with brambles, so that I had difficulty making any progress.
The sentence means: Because it was overgrown with brambles, I had difficulty making any progress.

Cambridge Online Dictionary states, We use so as a subordinating conjunction to introduce clauses of result or decision.
Scroll down to So as a conjunction, HERE.

So is described as a "weird" conjunction in this article, HERE, in which the author notes, "When so shows purpose, it acts like a subordinating conjunction."

Controversy exists about so, standing alone, as a subordinating conjunction; that fact that may inform your question.
GMAC seems to avoid the issue and to use so that rather than so.

Hope that helps.
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Wow generis great explanation - So if i see "Such a X" it is basically an intensifier of a noun or noun phrase