“So That” & “In Order That” in English

USING “SO THAT” & “IN ORDER THAT”  IN ENGLISH

There are various ways to express the purpose or reason in English. Two of them are “So That” and “In Order That”.

We use both of them as a conjunction ( subordinating conjunction ) to introduce clauses of reason and explanation.

We can say that they are used to explain why an action is done.

We can say for both;

•  They are conjunctions which are used to join two clauses. ( one of them expresses an action, the other expresses the purpose )
•  They are used before the clause which indicates the purpose. ( they have the same meaning and usage )
•  The clause after these conjunctions generally includes a modal ( like can, could, may, might, will or would ).

A Clause ( Action ) + So That + A Clause ( Purpose )

A Clause ( Action ) + In Order That + A Clause ( Purpose )

HOWEVER;

The differences between them are;

• Although “so that” is more common than “in order that”, “so that” is less formal than “in order that”.
• We can leave out “that” after “so”.
• When we are talking about the future, we can use both simple present tense or will after “so that”.
• However we generally use simple present tense after ” in order that”.

For “in order that” vs “in order to” click here

For “so that” vs “so” click here




You can see many examples related to using ” so that / in order that” below;