Salut, quick question, I know si and tellement can both mean "so" as a matter of emphasizing how much, but I'm not clear which to use in the context I'm thinking of.
If I'm saying someone is "so cute", or "so smart", which would I use? Elle est "si intelligente"? "tellement intelligente"? Do both work? Neither? Is it one of those cases where u just wouldn't phrase it like that in the first place?
I'm a native, they both work but I don't use "si" much lol so idk how to use it damn thanks for pointing out I can't speak my own language
Honestly native speakers usually don't have reason to study the hard and fast rules of their own language so I get it, like I couldn't tell u a lot of the rules of English use. "It just sounds weird to say it like that" actually can often be valuable input.
reject prescriptivism :anarchy:
the best indication of how languages actually work is to look at where they don't follow the guidelines
I'm fluent but not a native.
I think they both work, but I think if you wanted to draw a contrast, like she is so smart but she makes bad choices, I would use si, but I think it's more of a personal choice.
Maybe some natives could chime in.
Another question came to me if u wouldn't mind weighing in on a different thing. It's also quick.
souci
My vocabulary is ever expanding :very-smart:
Anyway, when remarking something like, Idk "how sad" or whatever, I know in Spanish one can use qué followed by an adjective, like "qué triste". In French is there something similar? Like I'm wondering if one can use que or maybe quel in a similar way-"que/quel triste" or something like that.
C'est dommage/quel dommage - it's too bad, that's too bad, what a shame
Quelle tristesse - how sad, what a pity
Yup ! Quelle chance, quel bonheur, quel changement, quelle surprise, etc.
"We've told him so many times" :very-smart: putting subject and object before the verb still confuses me so much for some reason lol)
"Tellement de" , I'll remember that.
It might be a parallel of "aussi" vs. "autant". Not sure.
Instinctively to me, "si" sounds like an implied comparison to something, whereas "tellement" calls attention to something on its own and also is even more emphatic.
Also, "so cute/smart that they could ___" is always going to be "si". But "she's just so. smart." would be "tellement" more of the time.
