EN
A framework to extend the singular value decomposition of a matrix to a real linear operator $ℳ : ℂⁿ → ℂ^{p}$ is suggested. To this end real linear operators called operets are introduced, to have an appropriate generalization of rank-one matrices. Then, adopting the interpretation of the singular value decomposition of a matrix as providing its nearest small rank approximations, ℳ is approximated with a sum of operets.