Consequences and Extremes
When you want to express that an extreme situation has a specific result—like when the traffic is so bad that you are late—you can use the structures tão... que and tanto... que.
Tão ... que (So ... that)
Use tão (so) with adjectives or adverbs, followed by que (that) to introduce the consequence. Tão is invariable and never changes its form.
| The rush hour is so unbearable that I usually leave early. | A hora de ponta é tão insuportável que eu costumo sair cedo. |
| The train is so crowded that the delay is inevitable. | O comboio está tão lotado que o atraso é inevitável. |
Tão also works with adverbs:
| The cars go so slowly that it is unbearable to circulate in the center. | Os carros andam tão devagar que é insuportável circular no centro. |
Tanto ... que (So much/many ... that)
Use tanto instead of tão when expressing an extreme quantity with a noun. Tanto must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes ("so much" in the singular, "so many" in the plural).
With masculine singular nouns (tanto):
| There is so much chaos in the street that it is difficult to circulate. | Há tanto caos na rua que é difícil circular. |
With feminine singular nouns (tanta):
| There are so many people at the station that the carriage is always crowded. | Há tanta gente na estação que a carruagem está sempre lotada. |
With plural nouns (tantos / tantas):
| When I travel by bus, I see so many cars that the traffic gets paralyzed. | Quando viajo de autocarro, vejo tantos carros que o trânsito fica paralisado. |
| The subway has so many carriages that it is never crowded. | O metro tem tantas carruagens que nunca está lotado. |
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