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Glossary entry

Swedish term or phrase:

ett tiotal

English translation:

"ten or so" - (irregular incorrect usage: "tens of...")

Added to glossary by Charlesp
Oct 5, 2005 20:59
18 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Swedish term

ett tiotal

Non-PRO Swedish to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
If tiotal is ten, and ett par tiotal is twenty or thirty, and några tiotal is "dozens", how many is "ett tiotal"?
Proposed translations (English)
4 +6 'ten or so'
4 +1 some ten
4 +1 ten or so, tens
4 -2 tens of............
Change log

Oct 6, 2005 07:23: Michele Fauble changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Discussion

Charlesp (asker) Oct 5, 2005:
Thanks for the two answers. That is more or less what I thought - that it could mean either "tens" <I>or<N> "about ten." How to differentiate bettween the two meanings?
Charlesp (asker) Oct 5, 2005:
Thanks for the two answers. That is more or less what I thought - that it could mean either "tens" <I>or<N> "about ten." How to differentiate bettween the two meanings?

Proposed translations

+6
8 mins
Selected

'ten or so'

In my experience, it's always been used to mean 'around ten' or 'approximately ten' or 'ten or so'
Peer comment(s):
agree E2efour (X)
12 mins
agree Oliver Annacker
27 mins
agree Lagom
31 mins
agree Michele Fauble : 'Ett' restricts the meaning to 'approximately ten', 'ten or so' .
10 hrs
agree Larissa Ekonoja : ett tiotal = around 10, tiotal = tens of .. generally clearly differentiated.
10 hrs
agree George Hopkins : Michelle gives the correct answer.
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "so that nobody will stay up thinking about this instead of going to bed, I'll close it now. Seems the consensus is that it is a bit more than ten (even if it might sometimes be used as "tens of..."."
-2
2 mins

tens of............

ett tiotal av bilar

tens of cars



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Note added at 3 mins (2005-10-05 21:02:46 GMT)
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= a number between 9 and 100

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Note added at 4 mins (2005-10-05 21:04:07 GMT)
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050922/ap_on_r...

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Note added at 38 mins (2005-10-05 21:37:37 GMT)
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I just asked a Swede and she said between 9 and 100.
It could also mean 18 or 19 which is a bit more than ten or so.
That is why I think tens of is the safer bet in a case like this.
I believe in safety before linguistical beauty!!
Peer comment(s):
disagree Sven Petersson : Think you asked a turnip! :o)
48 mins
neutral Christine Andersen : Linguistically, English hasn't gone decimal yet - I'd suggest dozens :-)
10 hrs
neutral Michele Fauble : 'ETT tiotal' = 'approximately ten', 'ten or so'
10 hrs
disagree George Hopkins : Certainly not 'tens of...' I've had cases when a customer has asked an Englishman.
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
48 mins

some ten

:o)
Peer comment(s):
agree George Hopkins
10 hrs
Thank you very much!
Something went wrong...
+1
51 mins

ten or so, tens

Both are correct:

tiotal (et, =) 1. antal om cirka tio (det kom bara ett ~ personer). äv. tal som bildats genom att talet tio multiplicerats med ett heltal (andra siffran från höger betecknar ~); 2...

Norstedts Svenska Ordbok, 1999
Peer comment(s):
agree Michele Fauble : But 'ETT tiotal' = 'approximately ten', 'ten or so'
9 hrs
Something went wrong...
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