99. such (adv., adj., pron., intensifier)

such (adv., adj., pron., intensifier) Such has long functioned in English as pronoun, adjective, and intensifying adverb. At various times some uses have been criticized as too Formal, too Informal, or logically incoherent, but almost all of them are still Standard English. As a pronoun, as in Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven and Such is his nature that you are bound to like him, it has a somewhat formal air, perhaps less noticeable when it is used to round out a list, as in The zoo has many antelopes and zebras and gazelles and such. By choosing a more ordinary pronoun, you can reduce the stiffness and formality that such as pronoun may create. Instead of They wanted an engineer; one such was my father, try They wanted an engineer; my father was one or…, and that’s what my father was. As an adjective, such has wide use: We seek such help as is available. Such questions are discouraged. We also use it with a plus a singular count noun: It was just such a night as this. Some have objected to I have never seen such a beautiful bouquet, arguing that it should be … so beautiful a bouquet [as this], instead, but that’s nonsense; such sentences are Standard English, suitable for most levels of formality, even if so beautiful a bouquet may seem a more consciously elegant way to phrase it. The use of such as adverb and intensifier is now often criticized, but it is Standard still, although usually confined to Conversational levels and Informal writing. You should be aware, however, that some think it sounds “gushy.”