🔍 In short. Italian tale and un tale belong to a small family of indefinite words that English handles with three different expressions: “a certain”, “some guy”, and “such a”. The pronoun un tale means an unspecified person you don’t know or don’t name. The pattern un tale + name (“un tale Lorenzo”) means “a certain Lorenzo” and signals you’ve heard the name but never met them. As an adjective, tale means “such (a)”: una tale storia means “such a story”. Pair it with che or da and it follows the noun: una situazione tale che… A bit literary, often slightly disparaging, always useful for telling stories about people whose name you’d rather skip. This B1 guide on italian un tale covers the four main uses, the proverb, the bureaucratic il tal dei tali, and the difference from un certo, tizio, and talvolta.
Master italian un tale and you open a register that newspapers, novels, and chatty neighbors all use. The phrase italian un tale feels small but carries attitude: distance, vagueness, sometimes a raised eyebrow.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to section
- The four uses of italian un tale at a glance
- Un tale as a pronoun: “some guy”, “some woman”
- Un tale + name: “a certain Lorenzo”
- Tale as adjective: “such a”
- Tale che / tale da: result and consequence
- Il tal dei tali: the bureaucratic “so-and-so”
- Tale padre, tale figlio: the proverb
- Un tale vs un certo vs un tizio
- Talvolta, talora, in tal modo: frozen forms
- Cheat sheet
- Dialogue on a Treviso balcony
- Mini-challenge
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
The four uses of italian un tale at a glance
Walk into a portineria in Treviso on a quiet Tuesday morning and you’ll hear the porter say è venuto un tale a cercarla. Sit at the panificio counter and a regular will lower her voice to whisper ho conosciuto una tale Margherita, una vera chiacchierona. Read a Calvino paragraph and you’ll meet una situazione tale che nessuno sapeva più cosa dire. Open a circular from your condominio and you’ll find il tal dei tali, domiciliato in via tal dei tali. Four contexts, four flavours of the same word. Italian tale is one of those small grammatical pieces that punch above their weight: it adds vagueness, distance, sometimes a touch of disdain, and it’s nearly impossible to translate with one English equivalent.
The four uses you need at B1 are these. As a pronoun, un tale means “some guy”, “some woman”, a person you don’t know or don’t want to name. As an adjective before a name, un tale + name means “a certain so-and-so”. As an adjective with a noun, tale means “such a”, often heightening drama or disbelief. With che or da, tale follows the noun and introduces a result: una bontà tale da incantare tutti. Each use has its own register, and once you sort them out, italian un tale stops feeling slippery and starts feeling like a tool.
Un tale as a pronoun: “some guy”, “some woman”
Used on its own, un tale works as a pronoun and refers to an unspecified person, someone the speaker doesn’t know personally or chooses not to name. The feminine is una tale. It’s the natural Italian for the English “some guy”, “this woman”, “somebody or other”. It belongs to spoken Italian and journalistic writing more than to official prose, but it’s perfectly standard everywhere except the most formal bureaucratic registers.
- È venuto un tale a cercarti stamattina, non ha lasciato il nome.
Some guy came looking for you this morning, he didn’t leave his name. - Mentre tornavo dal panificio, mi ha fermato un tale chiedendomi dove fosse via Roggia.
While I was walking back from the bakery, some guy stopped me asking where via Roggia was. - Una tale ha telefonato per il volantino dell’appartamento.
Some woman called about the flyer for the flat. - Quando siamo arrivati alla riunione di condominio, un tale stava già parlando dei lavori al tetto.
When we arrived at the building meeting, some guy was already talking about the roof work. - Ha consegnato il pacco a un tale che ha detto di essere il fratello.
He handed the package to some guy who said he was the brother.
The tone is neutral to mildly distant. Un tale doesn’t insult the person, but it does push them at arm’s length: you’re treating them as a generic stranger. If you want explicit colour, use un tizio (informal, slightly rougher) or un tale strano, un tale antipatico when you want to add a judgement. Note the typical narrative tense pattern: mentre + imperfetto sets the background, then un tale + passato prossimo drops in the new character. Italian narrative recounts of chance encounters almost always follow this rhythm.
🎯 Mini-task: Fill in un tale or una tale, paying attention to gender clues.
- ____ ha lasciato un biglietto sul tavolo, ma non ha firmato.
- Ieri al mercato mi ha fermato ____, mi ha detto di conoscere mio padre.
- ____ è entrata in panificio e ha chiesto se vendiamo anche il pane senza sale.
- Mentre passeggiavo sulle rive del Sile, ho incontrato ____ che faceva fotografie ai mulini.
- Ho dato il pacco a ____ del condominio, mi ha detto di abitare al terzo piano.
👉 Show answers
1. Un tale (no gender clue, masculine default)
2. un tale (or una tale; “mi ha detto” leaves it open. Default masculine)
3. Una tale (feminine: “è entrata” gives the clue)
4. un tale (default, “faceva” leaves gender open)
5. un tale or una tale (here both work; choose based on who you have in mind)
Un tale + name: “a certain Lorenzo”
The pattern un tale + first name (or full name) is the standard Italian way of saying “a certain Lorenzo”, “a certain Margherita”. You’ve heard the name, maybe once, maybe in passing, but the person remains a vague reference for both speaker and listener. Newspapers use it constantly: un tale Pietro Bianchi è stato fermato dai carabinieri. So do private conversations: si è presentato un tale Lorenzo dicendo di essere il nuovo amministratore.
- Ho conosciuto una tale Margherita al mercatino dell’usato in piazza dei Signori.
I met a certain Margherita at the flea market in piazza dei Signori. - Si è presentato un tale Lorenzo dicendo di essere il nuovo amministratore di condominio.
A certain Lorenzo turned up saying he was the new building manager. - Un certo Pietro mi ha telefonato e diceva di conoscerti dal liceo.
A certain Pietro phoned me and said he knew you from high school. - Ha scritto un tale Niccolò chiedendo informazioni sul corso.
A certain Niccolò wrote asking for information about the course. - La firma sul contratto è di un tale Giovanni Rossi che non ho mai sentito nominare.
The signature on the contract is from a certain Giovanni Rossi I’ve never heard of.
Note the truncated form un tal Lorenzo: tale drops its final e before a consonant, the same truncation rule that gives quel ragazzo from quello. Un tal Lorenzo, una tal Margherita, un tal Bianchi are slightly more formal or literary; the full un tale Lorenzo is the everyday default. The Treccani grammatica notes the truncated forms aren’t common in contemporary Italian, but they survive in journalism and older literary prose.
Tale as adjective: “such a”
Drop the article and put tale directly before a noun, and you get the adjective meaning “such a”. Una tale storia means “such a story”, heightened, emotional, slightly literary. Un tale rumore means “such a noise”. Un tale freddo means “such a cold”. The adjective agrees in number (tale singular, tali plural) but not in gender. It signals that the noun is striking, often in a negative or surprising sense.
- Una tale storia non me la sarei mai aspettata da mio cugino.
I would never have expected such a story from my cousin. - Hai mai sentito una tale assurdità in vita tua?
Have you ever heard such an absurdity in your life? - Di fronte a un tale silenzio nessuno sapeva cosa dire.
Faced with such silence no one knew what to say. - Non avrei mai creduto a tali parole se non le avessi sentite io stessa.
I would never have believed such words if I hadn’t heard them myself. - In tali condizioni è impossibile lavorare sereni.
Under such conditions it’s impossible to work calmly.
The adjective tale belongs to a written or slightly elevated register. In everyday speech Italians more often reach for un + adjective + noun (una storia incredibile, un rumore tremendo, un freddo terribile) or for the construction così + adjective (una storia così incredibile). When a speaker chooses una tale storia, they’re picking a slightly more literary tone, the kind that lands well in narrative recounts, opinion pieces, and dramatic moments. The Treccani grammatica lists tale as one of the “indefinite adjectives in the singulative category”, alongside certo and altrui, and notes its overlap with the demonstrative function: tale circostanza equals questa circostanza.
Tale che / tale da: result and consequence
When tale is paired with che (followed by a clause) or da (followed by an infinitive), it flips position and follows the noun. The structure is noun + tale che + verb or noun + tale da + infinitive, and it introduces a consequence: “such that…”, “of a kind that produces…”. Italian uses this pattern in slightly formal writing, in legal language, and in dramatic spoken Italian.
- Ha fatto un freddo tale da spaccare i sassi.
It was so cold the rocks could split. - La situazione è tale che dobbiamo chiamare l’amministratore di condominio.
The situation is such that we have to call the building manager. - Il vento di bora era tale da costringerci a chiudere le finestre.
The bora wind was strong enough to force us to close the windows. - Filippo è di una bontà tale che non te la puoi neanche immaginare.
Filippo is of such kindness you can hardly imagine it. - Il rumore era tale che non si riusciva a sentire la televisione.
The noise was so loud you couldn’t hear the television.
The choice between tale che and tale da follows a clean rule: che introduces a finite clause (with its own conjugated verb), da introduces an infinitive. Una bontà tale che non puoi immaginarla versus una bontà tale da non potersi immaginare. The Crusca, in its consulenza linguistica on talché, traces this tale + che construction back to Latin and notes its long history in Italian as a consecutive connector.
Il tal dei tali: the bureaucratic “so-and-so”
Italian has a delightful idiom for “so-and-so”: il tal dei tali (masculine), la tal dei tali (feminine), i tal dei tali (plural). It’s the placeholder name in jokes, paperwork instructions, and chains-of-rumour. The structure is fixed: il/la tal dei tali. You can also say in via tal dei tali to mean “on such-and-such a street”, or l’articolo tale to mean “such-and-such an article”.
- Vai al comune, presenti il modulo, dici che sei il tal dei tali e ti rilasciano il certificato.
Go to the town hall, hand in the form, say you’re so-and-so, and they issue the certificate. - L’amministratore citava sempre l’articolo tale del regolamento, ma nessuno andava a controllarlo.
The manager always quoted such-and-such an article of the rules, but nobody ever checked it. - Mi ha detto di chiamare il tal dei tali a Roma, ma il numero non lo aveva.
He told me to call so-and-so in Rome, but he didn’t have the number. - Abita in via tal dei tali, dietro la stazione di Treviso.
She lives on such-and-such a street, behind the Treviso station. - Si firmano sempre con un nome di fantasia, tipo “la tal dei tali” o “anonima padovana”.
They always sign with a made-up name, like “Mrs So-and-So” or “anonymous from Padova”.
This idiom belongs to spoken Italian and to mock-bureaucratic registers. It’s the equivalent of English “so-and-so” or “such-and-such” when you’re parodying paperwork: cara signora Tal-dei-Tali. Italians use it constantly when recounting bureaucratic instructions they only half-listened to. Don’t try to translate it word for word: just learn it as a chunk.
Tale padre, tale figlio: the proverb
The pattern tale + X, tale + Y is the Italian template for proverbs equating two terms. The famous one is tale padre, tale figlio: “like father, like son”. It says the child resembles the parent in character, behaviour, or destiny. It’s usually used with a faint negative tint, since Italian deploys it more often to point out an inherited flaw than to celebrate a shared virtue. The Latin original is qualis pater, talis filius, and you’ll occasionally see the version quale il padre, tale il figlio, slightly more literary.
- Tale padre, tale figlio: anche Tommaso lascia la bicicletta in mezzo al cortile come suo padre.
Like father, like son: Tommaso also leaves his bike in the middle of the courtyard, just like his father. - Quale il padre, tale il figlio: sono testardi entrambi, non c’è niente da fare.
Like father, like son: they’re both stubborn, nothing to be done. - Tale madre, tale figlia: tutte e due chiacchierano per ore al telefono.
Like mother, like daughter: both of them chatter on the phone for hours.
The pattern extends past family: tale offesa, tale risposta (“such offence, such reply”), tale domanda, tale risposta (“such a question deserves such an answer”). It’s a compact way to express a one-to-one correspondence with a slight rhetorical flourish. Native speakers feel it as a proverb-shaped phrase, so it’s mostly used when you want to underline an observation about character or causality.
Un tale vs un certo vs un tizio
Three nearby words all mean roughly “some person you don’t know”, and English speakers often blur them. The differences are subtle but real, and Italians pick between them based on register and attitude.
Un certo: focus on identity, neutral
Un certo emphasises that there’s a specific person you have in mind, even if their identity is vague to your listener. Un certo Pietro mi ha telefonato means “someone named Pietro phoned me”: Pietro exists, the name is real, the speaker just can’t fully place him. The register is neutral and works in both spoken and written Italian. The pattern is un certo + name: un certo signor Bianchi, una certa Anna.
Un tale: same idea, slightly distanced
Un tale overlaps heavily with un certo when followed by a name, but on its own (without a following name) it leans more toward “some guy whose name I don’t even have”. È venuto un tale means “some guy came by” (no name attached). È venuto un tale Pietro means “a certain Pietro came by” (name vague but supplied). The register is everyday to slightly literary. Avoid it in strictly bureaucratic writing.
Un tizio: informal, sometimes dismissive
Un tizio is the colloquial cousin of un tale. Same meaning, rougher register. È venuto un tizio implies you didn’t even bother looking at him properly. The feminine una tizia exists but is rarer; una tale is the more common feminine equivalent. Tizio derives from the Roman placeholder name Titius (alongside Caio and Sempronio) and survives in the phrase tizio, caio e sempronio meaning “any random people”. Use un tizio in casual speech; switch to un tale when you want a step up in register without becoming formal.
Talvolta, talora, in tal modo: frozen forms
Tale hides inside several common compound adverbs and fixed expressions, none of which carry the indefinite meaning we’ve been discussing. They’re worth a quick parking lot so you don’t confuse them with un tale.
- Talvolta = “sometimes” (literary alternative to a volte): Talvolta penso di trasferirmi a Treviso.
- Talora = “sometimes” (more literary still, near-archaic): Talora si sentivano i rintocchi della campana di San Nicolò.
- In tal modo = “in such a way”: In tal modo si è risolto tutto in dieci minuti.
- In tal caso = “in such a case”: In tal caso conviene rivolgersi all’avvocato.
- Tal quale = “exactly the same”, “just like”: Margherita è tal quale sua madre da giovane.
These are univerbations of older tal volta, tal ora, in tal modo, and the Treccani grammatica lists them as “fixed expressions where the truncated form tal survives”. Talvolta and talora are interchangeable in meaning (“sometimes”), but talora sounds noticeably more literary. In daily conversation you’ll hear a volte or qualche volta; talvolta shows up in essays, novels, careful spoken Italian. Tal quale is the everyday phrase that survives.
🎯 Mini-task: Pick between un tale / una tale / tale + noun / tale che / il tal dei tali.
- Ho conosciuto ____ Margherita al mercatino dell’usato.
- Ha fatto un freddo ____ da spaccare i sassi.
- Vai al comune e dici che sei il ____ ____ ____ e ti rilasciano il documento.
- Una ____ storia non me la sarei mai aspettata.
- Mentre tornavo dal panificio, mi ha fermato ____ chiedendomi un’informazione.
- La situazione è ____ che dobbiamo chiamare subito l’amministratore.
👉 Show answers
1. una tale Margherita (un tale + name)
2. un freddo tale da (tale + da + infinitive, follows the noun)
3. il tal dei tali (fixed bureaucratic idiom)
4. Una tale storia (adjective before noun, “such a”)
5. un tale (pronoun, no name attached)
6. tale che (tale + che + finite clause, follows the noun)
Cheat sheet
One table, the whole italian un tale system. Keep it open while you build your next sentence.
| Use | Pattern | Italian example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pronoun, “some guy” | un tale / una tale | È venuto un tale a cercarti. | Some guy came looking for you. |
| “A certain” + name | un tale + nome | Si è presentato un tale Lorenzo. | A certain Lorenzo turned up. |
| “Such a” + noun | tale + noun | Una tale storia mi ha sorpreso. | Such a story surprised me. |
| Result with clause | noun + tale che + verb | Una bontà tale che ti commuove. | Such kindness it moves you. |
| Result with infinitive | noun + tale da + inf. | Un freddo tale da spaccare i sassi. | Cold enough to split rocks. |
| “So-and-so” | il / la tal dei tali | Sei il tal dei tali in via tal dei tali. | You’re so-and-so on such-and-such street. |
| Proverb pattern | tale X, tale Y | Tale padre, tale figlio. | Like father, like son. |
| “Sometimes” (literary) | talvolta / talora | Talvolta penso di partire. | Sometimes I think of leaving. |
| “In such a way / case” | in tal modo / caso | In tal caso, chiamo l’avvocato. | In that case, I’ll call the lawyer. |
| “Exactly like” | tal quale | Margherita è tal quale sua madre. | Margherita is exactly like her mother. |
Dialogue on a Treviso balcony
Vittoria and Filippo live on the third floor of a small condominio in the quartiere San Liberale, near the Sile river embankment in Treviso. It’s a Saturday morning. Vittoria comes back from the panificio with the bread; Filippo is on the balcony with his coffee. They start gossiping about the people they’ve crossed paths with in the last week, and the word tale shows up in every flavour we’ve covered.
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Filippo, mentre tornavo dal panificio mi ha fermato un tale chiedendomi dove fosse via Roggia. Aveva una mappa stampata, sembrava perso.
👨🏽🦱 Filippo: Sarà uno degli ospiti del bed and breakfast nuovo, quello di via Cornarotta. Ieri ne ho visti tre con i trolley sul ponte.
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Può darsi. Ah, ieri pomeriggio è passata anche una tale, voleva consegnare un pacco al terzo piano. Ho aperto io perché tu eri ancora al lavoro.
👨🏽🦱 Filippo: Aspetta, una tale come, alta, bassa, giovane?
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Sulla quarantina, capelli castani. Ha detto di chiamarsi una tale Margherita ma il pacco era per la signora del quinto, non per noi.
👨🏽🦱 Filippo: A proposito di gente che bussa, ieri sera, mentre guardavo il telegiornale, si è presentato un tale Lorenzo dicendo di essere il nuovo amministratore di condominio.
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Un tale Lorenzo? E hai controllato? Non vorrei che fosse uno che gira a raccogliere informazioni sui condomini.
👨🏽🦱 Filippo: Aveva il tesserino e ha citato l’articolo tale del regolamento, quello sulle spese straordinarie. Sembrava preparato.
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Va bene, ma la prossima volta chiediamo il numero al vecchio amministratore. Sai, mio padre diceva sempre: «Vai al comune, dici che sei il tal dei tali, residente in via tal dei tali, e ti aprono le porte». Tutti credono al primo che si presenta.
👨🏽🦱 Filippo: Hai ragione. Senti, ieri Tommaso ha lasciato di nuovo la bici in mezzo al cortile, l’amministratore arrabbiato l’ha trovata sotto le scale.
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Tale padre tale figlio. Anche tuo cognato lasciava la moto in mezzo al cortile e si arrabbiava se qualcuno gliela spostava.
👨🏽🦱 Filippo: Effettivamente. Una tale ostinazione che non se ne ragiona.
👩🏼🦰 Vittoria: Andiamo, il caffè si raffredda. Stasera passiamo dalla signora Camilla del quinto, le portiamo il pacco di Margherita.
What to notice in the dialogue
- Mi ha fermato un tale chiedendomi: classic pronoun use, anonymous stranger met by chance.
- È passata anche una tale: feminine pronoun, no name. Pure indefinite.
- Una tale Margherita: un tale + name. Vittoria has the name but the person remains vague.
- Un tale Lorenzo: same pattern, masculine. Filippo heard the name, doesn’t know the man.
- L’articolo tale del regolamento: tale as bureaucratic placeholder, “such-and-such an article”.
- Il tal dei tali in via tal dei tali: the frozen idiom, used to mock paperwork chains.
- Tale padre tale figlio: the proverb, applied to Tommaso and his uncle.
- Una tale ostinazione che non se ne ragiona: tale + che, consequence pattern.
- Mentre tornavo / mentre guardavo: imperfetto sets background; un tale + passato prossimo drops the new character into the scene. This is the canonical narrative rhythm for recounting chance encounters.
Mini-challenge
🎯 Final challenge: Translate into natural Italian using un tale / tale + noun / tale che / il tal dei tali.
- Some guy phoned this morning asking for you.
- A certain Niccolò signed the contract for the flat.
- It was so hot you couldn’t sleep.
- I met a certain Caterina at the market in Padova.
- Go to the office, say you’re so-and-so, and they’ll let you in.
- Such an absurdity I’d never expected from him.
👉 Show answers
1. Un tale ha telefonato stamattina chiedendo di te. (pronoun)
2. Un tale Niccolò ha firmato il contratto per l’appartamento. (un tale + name)
3. Faceva un caldo tale che non si riusciva a dormire. (tale + che + clause)
4. Ho conosciuto una tale Caterina al mercato di Padova. (feminine un tale + name)
5. Vai in ufficio, dici che sei il tal dei tali e ti fanno entrare. (fixed idiom)
6. Una tale assurdità non me la sarei mai aspettata da lui. (adjective tale + noun)
Italian un tale rewards consistent exposure. Read newspaper columns, listen to neighbours chatting at the bar, notice the imperfetto-plus-tale rhythm in narrative recounts. Most learners find italian un tale clicks once they stop trying to map it to one English word and start treating it as a small toolbox: the pronoun for anonymous people, the adjective for “such a”, the connector for consequences, the fixed idiom for paperwork. Pair this guide on italian un tale with the quiz below, then come back in a week and notice how often you actually hear it. The phrase un tale turns up far more than learners expect.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about italian un tale.
(Quiz coming soon)
Frequently asked questions
These questions about italian un tale come from real conversations among Italian learners and from the online forums forums. The lexical entry is documented in the Treccani vocabolario entry on tale.
Is un tale derogatory like un tizio, or neutral like qualcuno?
Un tale is on the neutral-to-slightly-distanced end of the scale. It’s milder than un tizio, which is informal and can sound dismissive (some random bloke). It’s slightly more formal than qualcuno, which is the plain everyday someone with no extra attitude. Un tale signals that you’re keeping the person at arm’s length: you don’t know them, you’re not naming them, you’re filing them as a generic stranger. Newspapers use un tale constantly because it sounds clean and impersonal. Friends gossiping use either un tale or un tizio depending on tone: if they’re indifferent, un tale; if they’re rolling their eyes, un tizio.
What is the difference between un certo Mario, un tal Mario, and un tale Mario?
All three mean a certain Mario, and all three are correct. Un certo Mario is the neutral default and works in every register. Un tale Mario is its slightly more literary cousin, used in journalism and storytelling. Un tal Mario is the same as un tale Mario with the final e of tale dropped before a consonant: the truncated form. The truncation is allowed and historically common, but the Treccani grammatica notes it has become less frequent in contemporary Italian. In everyday Italian you’ll mostly hear un certo or the full un tale; the truncated un tal sounds a touch old-fashioned.
Why does tale follow the noun in una situazione tale che?
Because tale is being modified by a clause introduced by che (or by da plus infinitive). When tale stands alone as an adjective meaning such a, it goes before the noun: una tale storia, un tale rumore. But when tale is followed by che + verb or by da + infinitive, it flips position and follows the noun, because the entire structure noun + tale + che + clause is a single consecutive construction. Compare una tale bontà (such kindness, no consequence stated) with una bontà tale che ti commuove (such kindness that it moves you). The presence of che / da is what triggers the post-position.
What does il tal dei tali mean in practice?
Il tal dei tali is the Italian placeholder for so-and-so, used the way English uses Mr Smith or John Doe when you need a generic name. It’s most common in mock-bureaucratic instructions: vai al comune e dici che sei il tal dei tali (go to the town hall and say you’re so-and-so). The feminine is la tal dei tali, the plural i tal dei tali. You’ll also hear via tal dei tali for a generic street name, and l’articolo tale for a generic article in a contract or regulation. The expression belongs to spoken Italian; you won’t see it in actual official paperwork, but you’ll hear it constantly when Italians recount paperwork they only half-understood.
Is tale padre tale figlio always negative?
In modern use, almost always yes. The proverb tale padre tale figlio literally means like father, like son, but Italians usually deploy it to point out an inherited flaw or quirk rather than to celebrate a shared virtue: tale padre tale figlio, anche lui ha lasciato la macchina in doppia fila. The English equivalent like father like son carries the same faint negative tint. The neutral Latin source is qualis pater, talis filius, and you’ll occasionally see the version quale il padre, tale il figlio in literary Italian, which feels slightly more positive. But the bare proverb tale padre tale figlio is almost always a soft criticism in contemporary speech.
Is talvolta the same word as tale?
Etymologically yes, in current use no. Talvolta is the univerbation of tal volta (such-a-time), and it means sometimes, the more literary equivalent of a volte. Talora means the same and sounds even more literary, near-archaic. Neither carries the indefinite meaning of un tale or the such-a meaning of the adjective tale. The Treccani grammatica lists them as fixed expressions where the truncated form tal survives, alongside qualora (whenever), in tal modo (in such a way), in tal caso (in such a case), and qual buon vento (what good wind, used as a greeting). Treat talvolta and talora as autonomous adverbs and you won’t confuse them with the un tale family.
Ready for the next step?
All our classes are live on Zoom with a native Italian teacher, in small groups. If this lesson matches your level, take it further with real practice.
Milano A2-B1
Small group course · live on Zoom · native teacher
Move from the basics to real conversations, step by step, with a native Italian teacher who keeps the group small and the pace right for you.
- Small groups, max 4 students — weekly live Zoom lessons
- Grammar, vocabulary, listening and writing in every cycle
- Materials in Italian + English, beginner-friendly
- Homework after each lesson, corrected by your teacher
Individual classes
One-to-one · any level · live on Zoom
Private lessons with your dedicated native Italian teacher, fully tailored to your goals and schedule, from absolute beginner to advanced.
- 55-minute individual Zoom lessons, your dedicated teacher
- Personalised level assessment included
- Interactive online materials — homework after each lesson
- Flexible weekly schedule or pay-as-you-go package
Related guides
- Italian Alcuni, Alcune: How to Say ‘Some’ or ‘A Few’ (A1) for the partitive sister of un tale.
- Italian Qualcosa: How to Say ‘Something’ Like a Native (A1) for the inanimate counterpart in the indefinite family.
- Italian Each and Every: Ogni, Ognuno, Ciascuno (A2) for neighbouring indefinite pronouns and adjectives.
- Italian Costui, Colui, Coloro: The Literary Demonstratives Still in Use (C1) for when un tale isn’t formal enough.
- Treccani vocabolario: tale covers the lexical entry with all uses.
