Word Confusion: Sew vs So vs Sow

Third person present verb: sews
Past tense: sewed
Past participle: sewed, sewn
Present participle: sewing

Plural for the noun: sows
Gerund: sowing

Third person present verb: sows
Past tense or past participle: sowed, sown
Present participle: sowing

[Of a vessel] To be grounded at low tide

Verb, transitive:
Join, fasten, or repair something by making stitches with a needle and thread or a sewing machine

Attach something to something else by sewing

• Conforming with reality or the fact

Adverb:
[As submodifier] To such a great extent

• Extremely
• Very much (used for emphasis)
• [Informal] Used to emphasize a clause or negative statement
• [Informal] Used with a gesture to indicate size

[With negative, as submodifier] to the same extent (used in comparisons)

Referring back to something previously mentioned

• That is the case
• The truth
• Similarly
• And also
• Expressing agreement
• [Informal] Used to emphatically contradict a negative statement

In the way described or demonstrated

Thus

Conjunction:
And for this reason

Therefore

• [so that] With the result that

[so that] With the aim that

In order that

And then

As the next step

Introducing a question

• Introducing a question following on from what was said previously
• [Informal; also so what?] Why should that be considered significant?

Introducing a statement that is followed by a defensive comment

Introducing a concluding statement

In the same way

Correspondingly

Exclamation:
Used as an exclamation of surprise, shock, discovery, inquiry, indifference, etc., according to the manner of utterance

Pronoun:
Such as has been stated

Something that is about or near the persons or things in question, as in number or amount

• The female of certain other mammals, e.g., the guinea pig, bear, mink

A large block of metal (larger than a “pig”) made by smelting

Verb, intransitive:
To sow seed, as for the production of a crop ²

To set something in motion

• Begin an enterprise

Verb, transitive:
Plant seed by scattering it on or in the earth ²

• Plant the seeds of a plant or crop
• Plant a piece of land with seed
• [be sown with] Be thickly covered with
• Cause to appear or spread

They sewed up the deal last night.

Have they sewn up the votes on SB1960-1 yet?

She chose to teach her how to sew instead.

Verb, transitive:
She sewed the seams and hemmed the border.

She could sew the veil on properly in the morning.

Hettie would sew her prom dress in time.

If you choose that fabric, it will cost so much more to make the jacket.

Adverb:
The words tumbled out so fast that I could barely hear them.

Don’t look so worried.

I’m not so foolish as to say that.

She looked so pretty.

I do love it so.

That’s so not fair.

You are so going to regret this.

The bird was about so long.

He isn’t so bad as you’d think.

Without his parents’ support, he would not have done so well.

“Is it going to rain?” “I think so.”

If she notices, she never says so.

I hear that you’re a writer — is that so?

Times have changed and so have I.

“It’s cold in here.” “So it is.”

“Make it so!” is a popular phrase from Star Trek.

Hold your arms so.

So it was that he was still a bachelor.

Conjunction:
It was still painful, so I went to see a specialist.

You know I’m telling the truth, so don’t interrupt.

It was overgrown with brambles, so that I had difficulty making any progress.

They whisper to each other so that no one else can hear.

And so to the finals.

So, what did you do today?

So what did he do about it?

“Marv is wearing a suit.” “So?”

So what if he failed?

So I like anchovies — what’s wrong with that?

So that’s that.

Just as bad money drives out good, so does bad art drive out the good.

Exclamation:
So, what . . .

So?

Pronoun:
I promise to be good and stay so.

Of the original dozen eggs, five or so remain.

A sow suckling her piglets looks just like a cat or dog with their own babies.

Verb, intransitive:
We’ll sow in the early spring.

The seeds of dissent had been sown in late March.

The seeds of conflict have been sown.

Verb, transitive:
Fill a pot with compost and sow a thin layer of seeds on top.

The corn had just been sown.

The field used to be sown with oats.

We walked through a valley sown with boulders.

The new policy has sown confusion and doubt.

* The original term for one who sews is sewer, and there is a current trend toward sewist, which certainly sounds as if it will smell better! (Sesqiotica)

1. Old English sugu is related to the Dutch zeug and the German Sau from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin sus and the Greek hus meaning pig.
2. Old English sāwan, of Germanic origin is related to the Dutch zaaien and the German säen.