Tusentals

Tusentals is a Swedish plural numeral used to indicate large but indeterminate quantities, literally meaning “thousands.” It is formed from the word tusen (one thousand) with the suffix -tals to express a mass quantity. The form tusentals is invariable and is used with a following noun to denote a large number of people, objects, years, and similar countable items.

Etymology and usage notes

The term derives from Old Norse and the Germanic roots for the number thousand. In modern Swedish, tusentals is typically used to convey approximation rather than an exact figure. It is common in both written and spoken language to pair tusentals with a noun, as in tusentals människor, tusentals kronor, or tusentals år. The singular form ett tusental refers to about one thousand and is used when a rough count around a thousand is intended.

Grammatical behavior

Tusentals functions as a plural numeral and does not change form to agree with different nouns. It is placed before the noun it modifies, and the accompanying noun is normally in its ordinary plural form: tusentals människor, tusentals böcker. It can appear in evaluative or descriptive contexts to emphasize the scale of an event, quantity, or phenomenon.

Related terms

Related expressions include tusen (one thousand) for an exact number, and phrases such as flera tusentals and många tusentals to convey larger, non-specific counts. For finer precision, numbers can be stated directly (e.g., 2 500 personer) or a range can be given.

See also

Numerals in Swedish; counting and quantities; and word formation with -tals in other numeric expressions.