“Oh my goodness. It was so moving, by the end I was tearing up.”

English Lesson: Oh my goodness. It was so moving, by the end I was tearing up.

You're talking with your friend about a book that you read. You say this because the book was very emotional and dramatic.

Oh my goodness. It was so moving, by the end I was tearing up.

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Oh my goodness.

This is something you say when you're slightly surprised, scared, happy, or feel some other emotion. It's like "Oh my God":

Oh my God, that's wonderful!

But "Oh my goodness" sounds more mild. The emotion doesn't sound as strong as it does when you say "Oh my God." Also, there are some people (mostly older, conservative women) who don't say "Oh my God" for religious reasons.

(a story/song/movie) was moving

A "moving" story is one that makes you feel strong emotions. The emotions that are associated with feeling "moved" are:

  • sadness
  • hope
  • joy
  • nostalgia
  • gratitude (being thankful)

Another way to describe it is that a "moving" story, photograph, song, or movie makes you feel empathetic to other people's feelings. It makes you imagine other people's pain, happiness, and dreams.

Use "moving" in these forms:

  • (something) is so moving

    What did you think of it? I thought it was so moving!

  • a moving (something)

    "Adagio for Strings" is such a moving piece of music.

  • (someone) is (adverb) moved by (something)

    I'm deeply moved by your generosity.

(something) was so (adjective), (clause)

Here are a few more examples of this structure:

She was so tired, she went straight to bed when she got home.

It happened so fast, I couldn't tell what was going on.

It might help to know that you can also put "that" in the sentence:

It was so moving that I was tearing up by the end.

by the end (of something)

In this example:

Oh my goodness. It was so moving, by the end I was tearing up.

...the speaker started to feel moved by the book as she was reading it. As she got closer to the end of the book, she continued to feel more emotional. The phrase "by the end" explains that she didn't just suddenly tear up while she was reading the last few pages of the book; she slowly started to feel that way as she was reading it.

(someone) tears up

To "tear up" means to start to cry. Sometimes people "tear up" without completely crying. This happens a lot when people watch sad movies or read dramatic books.