"Oni jedzą obiad przy stole."

Translation: They eat lunch at the table.

[israellai]

The audio sounds like jędzą.

[Gerardd88]

You're right. The audio is wrong. Report it.

[MeganKunze1]

So in general, would 'przy' imply less distance than 'obok' or 'koło'?

[Jellei]

Yes. "obok" and "koło" are already quite close, but "przy" is, like, literally next to. And with the table, it should mean they are politely sitting on the chairs at the table.

[RoboticRocketeer]

So in the context of a table, eating merely near it is enough to qualify as English "at."

[A477]

but this could also mean that they eat their meal next to the table? i.e. on the ground

[Jellei]

Technically, I guess so. Although I'd use 'koło' or 'obok' in order not to be ambiguous.

[Pam833405]

Frustrated. How can it be BY the pool but AT the table?

[alik1989]

Well, first of all, prepositions often don't match between different languages, secondly, "przy stole" is kind of a fixed phrase that is worth remembering and lastly, "by the table" is also accepted here.

And English is just as confusing. If you say "at the hotel" you are most likely inside the building, while if you say "at the table" you're just next to it.

[Will127979]

How is przy different than w in this case?

[Jellei]

"w" would mean that they are literally in the table.

[Mag_Dale]

They are eating lunch next to the table.
Wouldn't that be correct too?

[Jellei]

"przy" generally can mean "next to", but in such a sentence, I really can't imagine anyone saying "przy stole" and meaning anything else than "at the table". It's like a fixed phrase.

[TveshaSinha]

Could I say 'Oni jedzą obiad u stole'?

[Jellei]

No. If anything, than "u stołu" (Genitive), but that seems rather dated to me.

[NieNieNieNie]

Would it be OK to use "na"?

[alik1989]

"They eat lunch on the table."

[NieNieNieNie]

Which makes more sense, no?

[alik1989]

In English that would definitely mean that you are eating while sitting or standing on the table.

In Polish, I can imagine that this could be uttered in very careless speech, meaning: They eat the lunch (which is) on the table. But it also sounds a lot like "eating while being on top of a table".

[jamielniak]

Eles comem o almoço na mesa

[Ubeogesh]

Can this be made into an impersonal sentence, that means something like a tradition\rule?

Asking because if I omit the pronoun and translate into Russian (my native language), it would be "обед едят за столом" which sounds exactly like that.

[alik1989]

"Обед едят за столом" - I would translate this as "Obiad jada się przy stole".

[Ubeogesh]

so there is actually a separate "impersonal" form! Good to know! Is this common to have a separate impersonal form?

[alik1989]

Well, you can attach się to almost any third person singular verb and get an impersonal version. A real separate form only exists for the past tense, as you can see in the declension table.

[Jellei]

"Obiad je się przy stole" also works. "jada" sounds better though ;) But this course doesn't teach verbs like "jadać".