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# tale

«tale» in Mova's school dictionary: **a story, often a made-up one with adventures** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (tale, tales)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A tale is a story, often a made-up one with adventures. A fairy tale is a story with magic in it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#m1)

2) A tall tale is a story that is hard to believe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#m2)

3) To tell tales is to tell someone in charge about another person's small mistakes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In maths: a story that is read or told; tales or their pages may be counted; pages per tale make a rate. In English: folk tales, fairy tales and fables are kinds of stories; they often begin «Once upon a time». Phrases: fairy tale, folk tale, tall tale, tell tales, a tale of.

### examples

- The book has 12 tales. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x1)
- Each tale is 8 pages long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x2)
- Grandma told us 3 tales tonight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x3)
- She read 2 fairy tales a day for a week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x4)
- Snow White is a famous fairy tale. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x5)
- He told a tall tale about a fish as big as a boat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x6)
- The old sailor told tales of the sea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x7)
- Do not tell tales on your friends for small things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x8)
- A false tale often betrays itself. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/#x9)

### note

Homophone: «tail» (an animal's tail) sounds the same. A «telltale» is a person who tells tales. Just the thing counted; pages per tale make a rate. No clue by itself.

### In the corpora

- [Stories grow because people fill gaps with guesses, round numbers up, and add a twist that makes the tale better to tell.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/42-our-street-feuds-newcomers-and-stories-that-grow/2/)
- [They are funny made-up tales, and every reason they give is wrong.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/404-the-real-animals-of-the-just-so-stories-whale-camel-rhino-leopard-elephant-kangaroo-armadillo-crab/1/)
- [In printed copies of the book the tale winds down the page in the shape of a tail, getting smaller.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/14/)
- [The Hatter finishes his tale: the Queen screamed «He's murdering the time!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/14-alice-a-mad-tea-party-2/1/)
- [What's the trouble?» Toad tells him a tale of lost money and hungry children at home.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/54-willows-ch8-part3-no-money-no-pocket/4/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tale» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tale/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.