fable
gb/fˈeɪbəl/ us/fˈeɪbəl/
B1
Engels
~ 8300
Betekenissen
0 betekenissen
Zelfstandig naamwoord
B1
entity
1
Short moral story, often with animals
A short made-up story that teaches a lesson, often using animals that can talk and think like people.
Gebruikspatroon:
a fable about [something]
Veelgemaakte fout:
Learners often confuse "fable" with "fairy tale" and "parable". A fable is usually short, has a clear moral, and often uses talking animals. A fairy tale often has magic and fantasy elements and is not always focused on a clear lesson. A parable is similar to a fable but is often connected to religion and usually uses human characters.
Synoniemen
moral tale (Highlights the teaching aspect more directly and can include stories without animals.)
|
parable (Often has a religious or spiritual context, while a fable is usually secular and uses animals.)
Antoniemen
true story (Describes an account based on real events, not an invented story created to teach a lesson.)
Woordcombinaties
Aesop's fables
|animal fable
|children's fable
|write a fable
|classic fable
|moral of the fable
Thema's
literature
|education
|morality
|arts_entertainment
Voorbeelden
- As a child, she loved the fable about the tortoise and the hare.
- The teacher used a simple fable to explain why honesty is important.
- In many fables, animals speak and behave like humans to show human strengths and weaknesses.
- He wrote a modern fable about technology and friendship for his literature class.
- The film feels like a dark fable warning us about greed.
Voorbeelden voor taalleerders
- We read a short fable in class today.
- This fable teaches children to be kind.
- In the fable, a small mouse helps a big lion.
- My grandfather told me a fable before bed.
- The fable has a clear lesson at the end.
Zelfstandig naamwoord
literary
B2
entity
2
Traditional story not based on fact
An old, famous story that many people know and repeat, but that is not really true history.
Gebruikspatroon:
the fable of [something]
Veelgemaakte fout:
Learners may think this sense always includes animals and an explicit moral, like the basic sense of "fable". In this literary or cultural use, a fable can be any traditional story or widely repeated narrative about a people or place, even without animal characters or a clear lesson.
Synoniemen
myth (Very close in meaning; "myth" is more common and can also mean a false belief, not just a traditional story.)
Antoniemen
historical fact (Stresses that something is supported by evidence and actually happened, unlike a fable.)
Woordcombinaties
ancient fable
|founding fable
|national fable
|cultural fable
|the fable of the hero
Thema's
culture
|history
|society
|arts_entertainment
|religion
Voorbeelden
- The book challenges the comforting fable of the nation's peaceful past.
- Over time, the general became a figure of fable, larger than life in the public imagination.
- The movie repeats the old fable of the self-made millionaire who starts with nothing.
- He argued that the story of endless economic growth is a dangerous modern fable.
- Tour guides still tell the romantic fable of how the city was founded by star-crossed lovers.
Voorbeelden voor taalleerders
- Many people believe the fable of a perfect golden age in the past.
- The leader became part of the country's fable after the war.
- Some say the island was created by gods, but that is just a fable.
- The author questions the fable of the brave, lonely hero.
- Tourists hear a nice fable about how the bridge was built.
Zelfstandig naamwoord
literary
C1
entity
3
Invented story, a lie
A made-up story that is not true but is told as if it were true.
Gebruikspatroon:
a mere fable
Veelgemaakte fout:
Learners may assume this sense still includes a moral or animal characters. Here, "fable" is used to criticize a story as false or too perfect to be real, often in news, essays, or formal speech.
Synoniemen
fabrication (A formal word that focuses on the deliberate act of creating a false story.)
Antoniemen
truth (Represents what is real and factual, the opposite of an invented story.)
Woordcombinaties
mere fable
|pure fable
|a convenient fable
|popular fable
|polite fable
Thema's
truth
|communication
|criticism
|core_vocabulary
Voorbeelden
- The report shows that the tidy story of a single genius inventor is largely a fable.
- He dismissed the rumor as a comforting fable people tell themselves.
- Her version of events is a polite fable that hides what really happened.
- The idea that success comes overnight is a dangerous fable.
- Historians now see that as a convenient fable created to excuse the company’s actions.
Voorbeelden voor taalleerders
- The story about him saving the company was just a fable.
- Many people still believe this, but scientists say it is a fable.
- The idea that he never made mistakes is a fable.
- They called his excuse a fable and did not trust him.
- She said the news was a fable and asked for proof.
Zelfstandig naamwoord
technical
C1
entity
4
The literary genre of fables
A type of story in literature that is always short, not real, and made to teach a clear lesson.
Gebruikspatroon:
the fable as [a genre]
Veelgemaakte fout:
Learners may not realize that "fable" can mean not just one story, but also the whole type or genre of such stories, especially in academic or literary discussion.
Synoniemen
allegory (A related literary form where the whole story represents something else; not always short or explicitly moral like a fable.)
Antoniemen
realistic fiction (Fiction that aims to represent life as it is, not stylized moral teaching like a fable.)
Woordcombinaties
the fable as a genre
|study the fable
|classical fable
|modern fable
|the tradition of the fable
Thema's
literature
|education
|arts_entertainment
Voorbeelden
- In this course, we will examine the fable as a didactic genre.
- The fable occupies an important place in early children's literature.
- She argues that the modern graphic novel sometimes functions as a kind of fable.
- Critics have noted how the director borrows structures from the fable to shape the film.
- The fable evolved alongside the parable and the fairy tale in European traditions.
Voorbeelden voor taalleerders
- We studied the fable in my literature class.
- The teacher said the fable is an old kind of story genre.
- Some modern books use the form of the fable.
- He wrote his thesis on the fable and the fairy tale.
- The fable is easy to use in classes for young students.
Grammatica
Lemmavorm
fable
IPA
GB/fˈeɪbəl/
US/fˈeɪbəl/
Lettergrepen en klemtoon
fable (1 lettergreep)
Stress on 1st syllable (fable)
Woordvormen
Noun
- Base: fable
- Plural: fable, fables
Woordfamilie
Forms
fables
noun
Related words
Advanced or less common
fabulist
noun
Uitdrukkingen
moral of the fable
1/mˈɔɹəl əv ðə fˈeɪbəl/
fixed phrase
Main lesson of a fable
The main lesson or message that the fable wants to teach you.
Voorbeelden
- The moral of the fable is that slow and steady effort wins in the end.
- Ask the students what they think the moral of the fable is.
- The teacher wrote the moral of the fable on the board after reading it aloud.