"so (to such a degree)" in seven languages
Meaningso (to such a degree)
Spanish
/tan/
inherited
The shortened form of tanto, used before adjectives and adverbs: tan cansado.
French
/si/
other source · Latin SĪC 'so, thus'
Tellement is more common in speech.
Italian
/koˈsi/
other source · spoken Latin *ECCU SĪC 'look, thus'
Also tanto.
Portuguese
/tɐ̃w/
inherited
Romanian
/aˈtɨt de/
other source · probably Latin ECCUM TANTUM 'look, so much'
Așa de is just as common.
Catalan
/tan/
inherited
English
/soʊ/
native English · Old English swā
Watch out: false friends
cosí (Catalan) means “cousin” · così (Italian) means “so, like this”
Coincidence of spelling. Catalan cosí, like French cousin (and Italian cugino, borrowed from French), goes back to Latin CONSOBRĪNUM 'cousin'; Italian così is spoken Latin ECCUM SĪC 'look, thus'.
The Latin ancestor
TAM‘so, to such a degree’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin TAM 'so much' survives in Spanish tan; French and Italian use SĪC 'thus' instead, the same SĪC that gave the 'yes' of the sisters.
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Estoy tan cansado!
- frJe suis si fatigué !
- itSono così stanco!
- ptEstou tão cansado!
- roSunt atât de obosit!
- caEstic tan cansat!
- enI'm so tired!