Subj : No article
To   : Ardith Hinton
From : Alexander Koryagin
Date : Wed Sep 03 2025 09:32:18


Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 30.08.2025 23:56

 AK>> In the translation of Jules Verne's "The Voyages and Adventures of
 AK>> Captain Hatteras" (project Gutenberg) there are these "table"
 AK>> sentences:

 AK>>> ----- Beginning of the citation -----
 AK>>> Hatteras unfolded on the table one of the excellent charts
 AK>>> published in 1859 by the order of the Admiralty.

 AK>>> ..."Here is the chart of the Polar Seas," resumed the doctor, who
 AK>>> had brought it to the table;

 AK>>> ... Johnson and Bell had a good supper awaiting them. But before
 AK>>> they sat down to table, the doctor said in a voice of triumph, as
 AK>>> he pointed to his two companions,
 AK>> ----- The end of the citation -----

 AK>> Can you say a formal excuse why "table" in the last sentence is
 AK>> used without any article?


 AH> My OXFORD CANADIAN DICTIONARY lists "at table" but not "to table".


 AH> THE FREE DICTIONARY tells me how to translate "at table " &
 AH> to "table" into Spanish, but offers no explanation of the sort you
 AH> apparently want.

Indeed, after some thinking I feel that "sat down at table" sounds better. Probably most of books are translated into English by people who are not Englishmen. They convey the contents well, but sometimes use prepositions as at home. ;-)

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2025

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