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The word *tale* lets you discuss specific but unnamed people, things, or situations. Because it ends in *-e*, its singular form is identical for both masculine and feminine words.

### Identifying Unknown People: *Tale*

When placed immediately before a noun with an indefinite article (*un* or *una*), *tale* acts as an adjective meaning "a certain."

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If you drop the noun entirely, *tale* acts as a pronoun. Saying *un tale* simply means "a certain guy," "a certain person," or "someone"—perfect for when a person's specific identity is unknown or unimportant.

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### Expressing Emphasis: "Such a"

*Tale* is also the standard word for translating "such a" or "such an" to express magnitude or disbelief. 

Pay close attention to the word order. While English puts "such" before the article ("such a report"), Italian flips this: the indefinite article comes first, literally translating as "a such report" (*un tale resoconto*).

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You can easily mix these adjective and pronoun forms to recount gossip or daily encounters:

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### Reacting to Strong Behaviors

*Tale* frequently pairs with abstract nouns to emphasize extreme traits or behaviors. You can combine *una tale* with formal verbs like *tollerare* (to tolerate) or *suscitare* (to provoke) to state clear boundaries or opinions about "such" situations.

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Indefinite adjectives and pronouns (tale)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
such a / a certain	tale
the individual	l'individuo
to arouse / to provoke	suscitare
the uproar / the sensation	lo scalpore
A certain individual provoked a lot of uproar.	Un tale individuo ha suscitato molto scalpore.
I was observing a certain guy in the park.	Stavo osservando un tale nel parco.
the absurdity	l'assurdità
You must not believe such an absurdity!	Non devi credere a una tale assurdità!
to deny / to retract (a statement, rumor)	smentire
the report / the account	il resoconto
The director must deny such a report.	Il direttore deve smentire un tale resoconto.
A certain guy tried to deny the gossip.	Un tale ha cercato di smentire il pettegolezzo.
Why did such news provoke this uproar?	Perché una tale notizia ha suscitato questo scalpore?
to tolerate (allow, permit)	tollerare
the arrogance	l'arroganza
We cannot tolerate such arrogance.	Non possiamo tollerare una tale arroganza.
the hypocrisy	l'ipocrisia
The problem is that I do not tolerate such hypocrisy.	Il problema è che non tollero una tale ipocrisia.
It takes patience to listen to such an absurdity.	Ci vuole pazienza per ascoltare una tale assurdità.
I took an hour to read a report full of hypocrisy.	Ci ho messo un'ora per leggere un resoconto pieno di ipocrisia.
Such a level of arrogance always provokes problems.	Un tale livello di arroganza suscita sempre problemi.
A certain individual called today.	Un tale individuo ha chiamato oggi.