tel

such

determiner TEL Less Common

Also means

like that

Usage Note

Tel is a determiner or pronoun meaning 'such' or 'like that' and agrees in gender and number: tel, telle, tels, telles. It appears in formal expressions like tel père, tel fils ('like father, like son') and en tant que tel ('as such'). Tel quel means 'as is'. In informal speech it is often replaced by comme ça, but tel remains frequent in written French.

Examples

"Je n'ai jamais vu une telle beauté."

Natural Translation

I have never seen such beauty.

Literal Translation

I have never seen a such beauty

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