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?
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.