diffrence in use of "so" and "deshalb"

[ravi]

hi

is there any difference in use and meaning of "so" and "deshalb"  ?

it looks same to me. can we use them interchangeably ?

Also finde ich das Auto gut.

Deshalb finde ich das Auto gut.

 

 

thanks.

 

[Sailor Cat]

In this case they have the same meaning, but in some cases you can't change them, as in: "Und deshalb habe ich das gemacht" ("and that's the reason why I did this"). In this sentence you can't say "also" for "deshalb". (Without the "und" it would work.)

Unfortunately I don't know a rule for this, but I would say that "deshalb" means more something like "that's the reason why" and "also" means more somethink like "consequently".