Collocations for "tale"
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "tale" in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2025
tale
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.n
- is just a tall tale
- stop telling (tall) tales!
- a tale of [love, revenge, betrayal]
- a tale about [love]
- a tale from [China]
- a [Chinese] tale
- a [traditional, religious] tale
- the origins of the tale
- the tale's origins
- a (common) fairy tale
- a tale of two [warriors, cities, lovers]
- tales for children
- read a children's tale (about)
- have heard tales [about, that]
- serves as a cautionary tale
- have you ever heard the tale [of, about] ...?
- have I ever told you the tale [of] ...?
- idiom: and lived to tell the tale
- idiom: won't live to tell the tale
- tells a different tale
- slang: just an old wives' tale
- idiom: the tale of the tape
'tale' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Christmas
- age
- amusing
- blood
- charming
- chill
- chilling
- creepy
- dazzling
- demise
- dwarf
- elf
- endearing
- fairy
- gripping
- grounded
- gruesome
- haunting
- live
- longing
- machine
- monster
- moral
- muddle
- mummy
- poignant
- quick
- read
- relate
- remarkable
- render
- sad
- setting
- sizzling
- survive
- taut
- thereby
- unhappy
- unlikely
- werewolf
- whimsical
- wife
- winter
- witty
- woe