Subj : Re: No article
To   : Alexander Koryagin
From : Anton Shepelev
Date : Sat Oct 18 2025 19:54:58

Alexander Koryagin:

AK>    Johnson and Bell had a good supper awaiting them.  But
AK>    before they sat down to table, the doctor said in a
AK>    voice of triumph, as he pointed to his two
AK>    companions,-- ----- The end of the citation -----
AK>
AK> Can you say a formal excuse why "table" in the last sentence
AK> is used without any article?

This usage needs no excuse, being perfectly correct.  Here a
combination of a preposition and a noun in the objective case
acts as a unified proposition, cf. /on top of/, /in place of/,
&c.  Observe also the title of a Dunany short story, /Thirteen
at table/, where /at table/ is singe united proposition.

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 * Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/1.0)

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