Intensifiers are the words that turn good into very good, really good, so good, too good. English uses voice for a lot of this work — that's GOOD! with stress on the adjective — but French has very flat sentence prosody and cannot rely on vocal emphasis the same way. Instead, French has built an unusually rich set of intensifying adverbs, each with its own register and its own emotional flavor. The four core ones a learner needs to control are très, vraiment, tellement, and trop, plus the chameleon adverb tout, which sometimes agrees like an adjective. Choosing among them well is one of the markers of fluent French.
This page covers the four core intensifiers, the special behavior of tout, and the structural patterns (tellement… que, si… que) that turn an intensifier into a consequence construction.
Très — the safe default
Très means very. It is register-neutral, all-purpose, and almost always correct. If you cannot decide which intensifier to use with an adjective, très is the answer.
Cette robe est très belle.
This dress is very beautiful.
Je suis très occupé cette semaine.
I'm very busy this week.
Le film était très long mais très intéressant.
The film was very long but very interesting.
Très modifies adjectives and adverbs only. It does not modify verbs. *Je très aime is ungrammatical — for verbs, the equivalent intensifier is beaucoup (see adverbs/quantity for the très / beaucoup split).
✅ Elle parle très bien français.
She speaks French very well. (très + adverb bien)
❌ Elle parle très français.
Incorrect — très doesn't modify a verb.
✅ Elle parle beaucoup le français.
She speaks French a lot. (beaucoup + verb)
There is one carve-out: when avoir combines with a noun that semantically functions like an adjective — avoir faim, avoir soif, avoir peur, avoir sommeil, avoir besoin de, avoir envie de — French uses très, not beaucoup.
J'ai très faim, on mange bientôt ?
I'm very hungry, are we eating soon?
J'ai très envie de voir ce film.
I really want to see this film.
On a très besoin de toi.
We really need you.
Très combines with adjectives but generally not with full past participles that still feel verbal. Très aimé is fine (aimé has crossed into adjective territory); très détruit sounds odd because détruit still feels verbal. When in doubt with a participle, swap très for fortement, complètement, or profondément.
Vraiment — emphasizes truth
Vraiment literally means truly. Compared to très, it adds a layer of emotional sincerity: c'est très bon is a measured compliment; c'est vraiment bon implies the speaker is surprised, impressed, or wants the listener to register their reaction.
C'est vraiment gentil de ta part.
That's really kind of you.
J'ai vraiment adoré ce livre, je vais le relire.
I really loved this book, I'm going to reread it.
Tu es vraiment sûr de toi ?
Are you really sure?
Unlike très, vraiment can also modify verbs — that's the truly sense applied to the action.
Il a vraiment changé depuis l'année dernière.
He's really changed since last year.
J'ai vraiment essayé, mais c'était impossible.
I really tried, but it was impossible.
Vraiment is register-neutral. It works in writing and in speech, formal or informal.
Tellement — emphasizes degree, often emotionally
Tellement is the emotional intensifier. It is the one French speakers reach for when they are excited, exasperated, surprised, or commiserating. It is slightly informal and very common in conversation.
Elle est tellement mignonne — regarde comme elle dort.
She's so cute — look how she's sleeping.
C'était tellement long que je me suis endormi.
It was so long that I fell asleep.
J'ai tellement faim que je mangerais n'importe quoi.
I'm so hungry I'd eat anything.
Il y avait tellement de monde qu'on n'a pas pu entrer.
There were so many people we couldn't get in.
Unlike très, tellement modifies anything: adjectives, adverbs, verbs (where it means so much), and nouns (with de).
Je l'aime tellement.
I love him so much. (verb)
Il a tellement de livres qu'il ne sait plus où les ranger.
He has so many books that he doesn't know where to put them anymore. (noun with de)
The tellement… que consequence pattern
This is the key structural use of tellement: paired with que, it introduces a so X that Y consequence clause. The clause after que takes the indicative.
Il pleut tellement fort qu'on ne peut pas sortir.
It's raining so hard that we can't go out.
Elle est tellement gentille que tout le monde l'adore.
She's so nice that everyone adores her.
J'avais tellement peur que je tremblais.
I was so afraid that I was shaking.
English often drops the that (she's so nice everyone adores her); French que is mandatory.
Trop — too much, or really (informal)
Trop has two lives. In standard French, trop means too in the negative sense — excessive, more than is acceptable.
Cette valise est trop lourde, je ne peux pas la porter.
This suitcase is too heavy, I can't carry it.
Il y a trop de bruit ici.
There's too much noise here.
Tu travailles trop, tu devrais te reposer.
You work too much, you should rest.
In informal speech — especially among younger speakers, in texting, and on social media — trop has been repurposed as a positive intensifier meaning really, so. This is a slang shift, restricted to casual contexts.
C'est trop bon, ce gâteau !
This cake is so good! (informal — trop = really, not too much)
Elle est trop drôle, ta sœur.
Your sister is hilarious. (informal)
J'ai trop kiffé cette soirée.
I really loved that evening. (very informal — slang)
The two uses are usually disambiguated by context and tone. Cette valise est trop lourde in a complaint about luggage clearly means too heavy; C'est trop bon delivered with enthusiasm at the dinner table clearly means really good. But in writing, especially in formal contexts, trop still means too much. Don't write trop bon in a job application thinking it conveys very good.
Trop… pour + infinitif
The construction trop + adjective + pour + infinitif expresses too X to do Y. This is the standard French equivalent of English too tired to walk.
Je suis trop fatigué pour sortir ce soir.
I'm too tired to go out tonight.
Il est trop tôt pour partir.
It's too early to leave.
Cette robe est trop chère pour mon budget.
This dress is too expensive for my budget.
Notice the parallel with tellement / si… que: where tellement requires a full que-clause with a finite verb, trop can take a shorter pour + infinitif when the implied subject is the same.
Tout — totally, the chameleon
Tout in its adverbial sense means totally, completely, entirely. Unlike the other intensifiers on this page, tout has a quirky agreement rule that learners regularly miss.
The rule: when tout modifies a feminine adjective beginning with a consonant (or aspirated h), it agrees with the adjective. In all other situations — masculine, or feminine starting with a vowel — it stays invariable.
| Gender + initial sound of adjective | Form of tout | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine (any initial) | tout (invariable) | tout petit, tout étonné |
| masculine plural (any initial) | tout (invariable) | tout petits, tout étonnés |
| feminine + consonant (or h aspiré) | toute / toutes (agrees) | toute petite, toute honteuse |
| feminine + vowel (or h muet) | tout (invariable) | tout étonnée, tout heureuse |
Le bébé est tout petit.
The baby is really tiny. (masculine — tout invariable)
La petite fille est toute petite.
The little girl is really tiny. (feminine + consonant — toute agrees)
Elle est toute rouge.
She's completely red. (feminine + consonant)
Elle est tout étonnée.
She's completely astonished. (feminine + vowel — tout invariable)
Elles sont toutes contentes.
They (fem.) are all happy. (feminine plural + consonant — toutes)
Elles sont tout heureuses.
They (fem.) are completely happy. (feminine + h muet — tout invariable)
The logic behind the exception: when tout sits in front of a vowel (or h muet), the liaison /t/ is already pronounced, so adding the feminine /t/ from toute would be redundant. French dropped the agreement specifically in that phonological context.
Tout in fixed expressions
A few fixed adverbial uses of tout are extremely common:
Tout à fait, je suis d'accord.
Absolutely, I agree.
C'est tout près d'ici.
It's right nearby.
Il habite tout seul.
He lives all alone.
Tu vas tout droit, puis à gauche.
You go straight ahead, then left.
In these fixed expressions, tout is invariable.
A quick comparison table
| Intensifier | Modifies | Register | Flavor |
|---|---|---|---|
| très | adjectives, adverbs (not verbs, not nouns) | neutral | safe default, measured |
| vraiment | adjectives, adverbs, verbs | neutral | sincere, emphatic |
| tellement | adjectives, adverbs, verbs, nouns (with de) | neutral → slightly informal | emotional, surprised |
| trop (standard) | adjectives, adverbs, verbs, nouns (with de) | neutral | excessive, too much |
| trop (slang) | same | informal only | positive, really, so |
| tout | adjectives | neutral | completely, totally |
Position
All these intensifiers sit before the adjective or adverb they modify. There is no productive post-adjectival intensifier in French.
✅ Il est très intelligent.
He's very intelligent.
❌ Il est intelligent très.
Incorrect — intensifier precedes the adjective.
When the intensifier modifies a verb, position follows the normal adverb rules: after the conjugated verb in simple tenses, between auxiliary and participle in compound tenses (see adverbs/position).
Je l'aime vraiment.
I really love him/her. (présent — vraiment after verb)
Je l'ai vraiment aimé, ce film.
I really loved this film. (compound — vraiment between auxiliary and participle)
Combining intensifiers
French generally allows stacking only one intensifier per modified word. *Très tellement bon and *très vraiment beau are wrong. Pick one.
The exception is repetition for emotional emphasis (the same intensifier doubled):
C'est très, très bon — je n'ai jamais mangé un truc pareil.
It's really, really good — I've never eaten anything like it.
Il est tout, tout petit, ce chat.
He's so very tiny, this cat.
In spoken French, the repeated word is held longer; in writing, the comma between repetitions is optional but common in informal style.
Common Mistakes
❌ J'aime très ce film.
Incorrect — très doesn't modify verbs. Use beaucoup or vraiment with verbs.
✅ J'aime vraiment ce film.
I really like this film.
❌ Elle est toute étonnée.
Incorrect — when the feminine adjective begins with a vowel, tout stays invariable.
✅ Elle est tout étonnée.
She's completely astonished.
❌ Cette robe est tellement chère pour moi.
Awkward — for the too X for Y construction, use trop, not tellement.
✅ Cette robe est trop chère pour moi.
This dress is too expensive for me.
❌ J'écris dans le mail au directeur : c'est trop bon, votre proposition !
Register mismatch — slang trop = really doesn't belong in formal writing; here it sounds like the proposal is excessive.
✅ Votre proposition est très intéressante.
Your proposal is very interesting. (appropriate formal register)
❌ Il est tellement gentil il aide tout le monde.
Incorrect — the consequence clause requires que.
✅ Il est tellement gentil qu'il aide tout le monde.
He's so kind that he helps everyone.
Key takeaways
The four core French intensifiers are très, vraiment, tellement, and trop. Très is the neutral default for adjectives and adverbs but cannot modify verbs. Vraiment adds sincerity and works on verbs too. Tellement is the emotional choice, the most flexible, and the one that pairs with que to express consequence (so X that Y). Trop literally means too much in standard French and really in slang — context decides. Tout as an intensifier means totally and has a quirky agreement rule: it agrees only with feminine adjectives beginning with a consonant. Master these five words and you have the everyday French toolkit for dialing up the force of a statement without having to raise your voice.
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