for later vs. later

[Sweetpumpkin]

Hello all,

In business English, we can say "We will table that for later.", which means "We will deal with that agenda later." I don't know why 'for' is used in the former.

Can I say "We will table that later?" ? If it's possible, what is the difference in meaning between "We will table that for later." and "We will table that later."?

Thank you in advance,
sweetpumpkin

[Mister Micawber]

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Actually, I (being American) would suggest 'We will table that until later'. Note the trans-Atlantic difference in meanings, which are opposite:

Table:

a. Chiefly U.S. to lay aside (a proposal, resolution, etc.) for future discussion, usually with a view to postponing or shelving the matter indefinitely.
b. British. to present (a proposal, resolution, etc.) for discussion.

We will table that for later is OK. It can be paraphrased as We will table that for[the purpose of discussion] later.

We will table that later means that at a future time we will offer it for discussion (BrE) or lay it aside (AmE).
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Sweetpumpkin]

Thank you, MM. This is what the teacher(online) said:

We will table that for later. = We will table that for a later meeting.

I think it's weird because I think it's impossible to remove 'a' and 'meeting' in the prepositional phrase.

Besides, I have one more question on your answer!

You mean "We will table that for later." is "We will table that for the purpose of discussion later."

How can the noun phrase(the purpose of discussion) be omitted?

[Molly]

Which would you use here, SweetP?

[Mister Micawber]

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We will table that for later. = We will table that for a later meeting.

I think it's impossible to remove 'a' and 'meeting' in the prepositional phrase.-- Not at all, but I think that 'later' is an adverb in your first sentence and an adjective in your second. They are not elisions; the two sentences are different ways of saying about the same thing. The first can be rephrased equally well as 'We will table that for [a] later [time/date/etc]'

You mean "We will table that for later." is "We will table that for the purpose of discussion later." How can the noun phrase (the purpose of discussion) be omitted?-- -- Easily, but with any of several alternatives, as I suggested above: "We will table that for [another meeting / the next gathering / etc] later."
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Molly]