Result and Consequence Clauses (Так...що, Настільки)

A result clause tells you the consequence of some degree or quality: the action was so intense, or the thing so extreme, that something followed. English has a tidy frame — "so X that Y," "such an X that Y," "too X to Y." Ukrainian has the same three slots, but the choice between так and такий is governed by a rule English speakers don't have to think about: так goes with an adjective or adverb, while такий goes with a noun. Get that split right and the rest — the obligatory comma before що, the standalone connectors то́му / о́тже, and the занадто…щоб frame for "too…to" — falls into place.

так + adjective/adverb + що: "so X that Y"

When the intensified word is an adjective or an adverb, use так (with an adverb or short predicate) or its adjectival twin такий (see below). Так is itself an adverb — "so, to such a degree" — so it pairs naturally with another adverb (так шви́дко "so fast") or a predicate adjective (так втомлений is replaced in practice by так втоми́вся "got so tired"). The result clause is introduced by що, and a comma always precedes що.

In each case the comma sits before що — this is non-negotiable in Ukrainian punctuation. A degree-and-result clause introduced by що is always fenced off with that comma.

такий + noun + що: "such an X that Y"

When the intensified word is a noun, switch to такий "such (a)," which — being an adjective itself — agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case: такий шум (m.), така́ спе́ка (f.), таке́ ща́стя (n.), такі́ лю́ди (pl.). This is the mirror image of the English "so/such" split, and the agreement is the extra thing to track.

So the decision is mechanical: adverb/adjective → так, noun → такий (agreeing). Так хо́лодно "so cold" (adverb-predicate) but таки́й хо́лод "such a cold" (noun).

настільки … що: the formal "to such a degree that"

For a more measured, often written register, настільки "to such an extent / so much" introduces the degree and що the result. It pairs with verbs and adjectives and feels more analytical than так — it foregrounds the measurement of the degree.

There is a paired correlative настільки…, наскільки "to the same degree as," but for pure result the настільки…що frame is what you want.

занадто … щоб: "too X to Y"

English "too cold to go out" hides a purpose-like clause under that little "to." Ukrainian makes it explicit: занадто (or надто / зана́дто) + adjective/adverb, then щоб + an infinitive. You cannot use a bare infinitive the way English uses "to" — the щоб is obligatory, because what follows is a subordinate clause, not a plain infinitive complement.

When the doer of the second action is named, щоб is followed by a past-form verb (the conditional-style subjunctive), not an infinitive: Це занадто складно, щоб діти впо́ралися сами́ "This is too complex for the children to manage on their own." But with the same understood subject, the infinitive is the norm: занадто пі́зно, щоб телефонува́ти.

Standalone consequence: то́му, о́тже, так що, внаслідок цьо́го

Not every consequence is bound into a "so…that" frame. Often you simply state a cause and then draw the consequence in a fresh clause with a connector. These are sentence-level and stack with a comma; they cross-link to the cause-and-result connectors page.

Note the comma habits: о́тже as a conclusion-drawing word is set off by commas like a parenthetical (…, о́тже, …); так що as a single consequence-conjunction takes a comma before the whole unit (…, так що…). Don't confuse this unitary так що "and so / with the result that" with the split так…, що of the degree-result clause above — there the comma falls before що, here before так що.

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, three points. First, the so/such split survives intact but flips its trigger: так with an adjective/adverb, такий (agreeing!) with a noun — and такий must match the noun's gender, number, and case. Second, "too X to Y" is not a bare infinitive — Ukrainian says занадто X, щоб + infinitive, spelling out the щоб-clause English hides under "to." Third, the comma before що is mandatory; English leaves "that" comma-less, but Ukrainian fences off the result clause.

For a Russian speaker, the apparatus matches (так…что → так…що, такой…что → такий…що, настолько → настільки, слишком…чтобы → занадто/надто…щоб), but watch the lexis: Ukrainian prefers занадто / надто over a calque of слишком, uses о́тже for "therefore," and writes the euphonic щоб (not чтобы). The так/такий agreement logic transfers directly.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• так vs такий by part of speech. так
  • adjective/adverb (так шви́дко, так хо́лодно); такий
    • noun, agreeing in gender/number/case (такий шум, така́ спе́ка, таке́ ща́стя).
• The comma always precedes що in a degree-result clause: так втоми́вся, що….
• настільки…що is the formal "to such a degree that"; занадто/надто…щоб + infinitive is "too X to Y" — never a bare infinitive.
• Standalone consequence: то́му (that's why), о́тже (therefore, comma-set), так що (and so, conversational), внаслідок цьо́го / як наслідок (formal).
• Don't confuse split так…, що (degree-result, comma before що) with unitary …, так що (consequence-conjunction, comma before так що).