Conversational Language: Conversational Language (#15)

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!

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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.