tale
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 →
2) A tall tale is a story that is hard to believe. tree →
3) To tell tales is to tell someone in charge about another person's small mistakes. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: The Israelite slaves had to make the same fixed number of bricks with no straw given. In Chronicles the Temple vessels were counted in and out "by tale," and in Psalm 90 a life passes quickly "as a tale that is told." Interpretation: Tradition reads the bricks as Pharaoh's cruelty, recalled each Passover. It reads the counting of the vessels as care for holy things, and the psalm as a reminder that life is short and that we should ask God to forgive our sins. In the primary 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
- Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.' (Torah EXO.5.18, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof; for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacrifice to our God. (Torah EXO.5.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- The tale of iniquities is too heavy for me; as for our transgressions, Thou wilt pardon them. (Writings PSA.65.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath; we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told. (Writings PSA.90.9, JPS 1917) tree →
- And certain of them had charge of the vessels of service; for by tale were they brought in and by tale were they taken out. (Writings 1CH.9.28, JPS 1917) tree →
- The book has 12 tales. tree →
- Each tale is 8 pages long. tree →
- Grandma told us 3 tales tonight. tree →
- She read 2 fairy tales a day for a week. tree →
- Snow White is a famous fairy tale. tree →
- He told a tall tale about a fish as big as a boat. tree →
- The old sailor told tales of the sea. tree →
- Do not tell tales on your friends for small things. tree →
- A false tale often betrays itself. tree →
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
- The tale of iniquities is too heavy for me; as for our transgressions, Thou wilt pardon them.
- For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath; we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.
- Stories grow because people fill gaps with guesses, round numbers up, and add a twist that makes the tale better to tell.
- They are funny made-up tales, and every reason they give is wrong.
- In printed copies of the book the tale winds down the page in the shape of a tail, getting smaller.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tale» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.