Swedish noun· top 2,000 most common

ett tal

speech, number, sum

Meaning

speech; number; sum

In Swedish: det att tala, förmåga att tala

Forms

Forms of tal
Singular, indefiniteett tal
Singular, definitetalet
Plural, indefinitetal
Plural, definitetalen

tal is an ett-word, so adjectives agree with it: ett stort tal, det stora talet. Check another noun

Practise tal

1 / 2

Is it en tal or ett tal?

tal in a sentence

  • man måste behärska språket i tal och skrift
    you must master the spoken and written language
  • hålla tal
    hold a speech
  • udda och jämna tal
    odd and even numbers
  • jag klarade bara ett tal på skrivningen
    in the exam, I could only do one sum
  • reellt tal
    real number
  • Hur många tal fick ni i matteläxa idag?
    How many math exercises did you have as homework today?
  • ett 20-tal
    a "number in the 20 to 29 range"
  • jämna hundratal
    even hundreds (e.g. 200, 400, 1600, or 5800)

Expressions

  • komma till tals ("få möjlighet till ett samtal") med någon
    get hold of ("have an opportunity to speak with") sby
  • föra något på tal
    bring sth. up
  • på tal om ("apropå") något
    speaking of ("by the way") sth.
  • i runda tal
    in round figures

Words built with tal

  • tacktal speech of gratitude; acceptance speech
  • 1900-tal 1900s (20th century)

Questions

What does tal mean in English?

tal means “speech, number”.

Is it en tal or ett tal?

It is ett tal, and “the speech” is talet.

What is the plural of tal?

tal doesn't change in the plural: ett tal, två tal (definite: talen).

Origin

From Old Swedish tal, from Old Norse tal, from Proto-Germanic *talą.

Nearby common words

tal is number 1,034 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary