Tel, Telle, Tels, Telles
Learn about the French adjective and pronoun tel
The French word tel can be a qualifying adjective, an indefinite adjective, or an indefinite pronoun, and is also used in a number of expressions and conjunctions, making it an extremely versatile and useful French word.
Tel has four forms:
| singular | plural | |
| masculine | tel | tels |
| feminine | telle | telles |
Tel has several different meanings depending on how it is used:
| I. | Qualifying adjective | ||
| When used as a qualifying adjective, tel expresses one of two things: | |||
| A. | Similarity | ||
| Elle a pleuré tel un enfant. | She cried like a child. | ||
| Tel père, tel fils. | Like father, like son. | ||
| Je n'ai jamais rien vu de tel. | I've never seen anything like it. | ||
| B. | Intensity | ||
| Est-ce vraiment d'une telle importance? | Is it really so important? | ||
| Il y avait un tel bruit que j'avais peur. | There was such a [loud] noise that I was afraid. | ||
| Une telle patience était nécessaire. | Such [endless] patience was necessary. | ||
| II. | Indefinite adjective | ||
| As an indefinite adjective, tel indicates undesignated people or things. In this sense, tel is more or less equivalent to n'importe: | |||
| Telle personne peut le faire. | Anyone can do it. | ||
| Tel ou tel professeur vous dira la même chose. | Any teacher will tell you the same thing. | ||
| Il y a tel restaurant où on peut manger à minuit. | There's some restaurant where you can eat at midnight. | ||
| Demandez-lui où il était à telle heure. | Ask him where he was at such-and-such a time. | ||
| III. | Indefinite pronoun | ||
| Tel is nearly always singular when used as an indefinite pronoun and means one, someone, etc. However, tel is not often used as a pronoun; other indefinite pronouns like certain or quelqu'un are more commonly used in its place: | |||
| Tel de ces livres vaut beaucoup. | One of these books is worth a lot. | ||
| Tel sera d'accord, tel autre ne le sera pas. | Someone will agree, someone else won't. | ||
| Tel ou tel vous dira que c'est une mauvaise idée. | Somebody or other will tell you that it's a bad idea. | ||
| IV. | Related words and expressions | ||
| à tel point que | so much so that | ||
| à telle(s) enseigne(s) que | so much so that | ||
| de telle façon/manière | in such a way | ||
| de telle sorte que | so that | ||
| tel que | like, just as | ||
| tel quel | as is | ||
| tellement (adverb) | so, so much | ||
| ne... pas tellement | not so, not as | ||
| ne... plus tellement | not anymore, no longer | ||
| (il n'y a) rien de tel que | there's nothing like | ||
| Untel, Unetelle (M/Mme Untel/Untelle) | so-and-so (John/Jane Doe, Mr./Mrs. X) | ||
| Adjectives Indefinite Pronouns |
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