tale

tale — noun

1. A description of real or imaginary events, told to entertain or to make a point,

1.名詞B1
釋義

A description of real or imaginary events, told to entertain or to make a point, and often including surprising or hard-to-believe details.

例句

Grandpa told us a tale about a fox that could talk and trick the farmers.

collocation: tell a tale about [subject]

The book is a tale of adventure set in a small fishing village in Iceland.

tale of + noun (adventure, love, survival)

同義詞
  • story

    more general and neutral in tone; tale often feels older, more imaginative or dramatic

  • narrative

    more formal and structured; describes the way a story is told rather than the content itself

  • legend

    a story passed down through generations, often about heroic figures; implies historical roots

  • anecdote

    a short, personal, often amusing account of a real incident

反義詞
  • fact

    tales may be invented or exaggerated, whereas a fact is objectively true

文法句型

tale + of + noun phrase

tale + about + noun phrase

用法筆記

Often used in compounds (fairy tale, folk tale) and with adjectives that describe the type of story (cautionary tale, horror tale, love tale).

常見錯誤

❌I read a tale about a tall building.
✅I read a story about a tall building.
💡'tale' suggests an imaginative, possibly old-fashioned or unlikely story, not a general narrative.

2. A report or statement someone tells knowing it is not true, with the goal of tri

2.名詞B2
釋義

A report or statement someone tells knowing it is not true, with the goal of tricking or misleading others.

例句

The politician's tale about his war record was later proven to be completely false.

tale about [subject] used to mean fabricated claim

Christopher told a tale about missing the bus, but I saw his car in the driveway.

同義詞
  • lie

    the direct, everyday word for a false statement; tale in this sense sounds more dramatic or dated

  • falsehood

    more formal than both tale and lie

  • fabrication

    emphasises that the story was deliberately invented

反義詞
  • truth

    a statement that matches reality

文法句型

tale + about + noun phrase

a pack of tales

用法筆記

Frequently plural (tales) in the phrase 'tell tales', which can mean either telling lies or reporting someone's secrets. Context determines which meaning applies.

常見錯誤

❌She told a tale to her mother about the broken vase.
✅She told her mother a lie about the broken vase.
💡In modern English, 'tale' for a deliberate falsehood is slightly literary or old-fashioned; 'lie' is the everyday word.