a single table

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "a single table" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to one specific table, often in contexts involving data, furniture, or organization. Example: "For the meeting, we will need a single table to accommodate all participants."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Academia

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

In this implementation, a single table tuples holds binary links between objects in a generic fashion.

Stanford University

(4) consisted of a single table to be used to determine income protection allowances.

Cornell University

As a result, each partition has the supported capacity of a single table.

Physical Database Design The Database Professional's Guide to Exploiting Indexes, Views, Storage, and More

The components of these rules all come from a single table.

How to Build a Business Rules Engine Extending Application Functionality through Metadata Engineering

It is probably two or more entities crammed into a single table.

Joe Celko's Thinking in Sets Auxiliary, Temporal, and Virtual Tables in SQL

This year, the analysis is presented in a single table, which spans Pages 10 and 11.

The New York Times

The restaurant serves dinner five days a week to a single table of ten diners.

The New Yorker

On top of that, it leads a product portfolio you can place on a single table.

The Guardian - Opinion

Similarly, the Chinese language has a "unit" modifier that goes before some words, indicating a single table or other object.

Harvard University

Displayed on a single table that almost fills the gallery, they create a vaguely comical theater of the absurd.

The New York Times

One hundred thirty-five guests were seated at a single table that seemed to stretch to eternity.

The New York Times - Magazine

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

In formal writing, this phrase is preferred over just "one table" when the contrast between a singular unit and multiple units is the core focus of the sentence.

Common error

Avoid using "a single table" when the singularity is already implied by the indefinite article "a" unless you specifically need the extra emphasis. For example, in the sentence "He sat at a table", adding "single" provides no extra information unless he was expected to sit at many tables.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "a single table" functions as a noun phrase, typically serving as the subject or direct object within a sentence. According to Ludwig, it is composed of an indefinite article ("a"), an emphasizing adjective ("single") and a common noun ("table"). It is used to quantify the noun with a specific focus on its uniqueness or isolation.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

45%

Science

30%

Academia

20%

Less common in

Wiki

3%

Formal & Business

1%

Social Media

1%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "a single table" is a highly versatile and grammatically correct expression used to denote a quantity of exactly one, with an added layer of emphasis on that singularity. Ludwig AI confirms its widespread usage across diverse fields, including data science, hospitality and journalism. In technical writing, it often signifies the consolidation of multiple data points into a unified structure, whereas in literary or journalistic contexts, it provides a clear visual focus. It is preferred over "one table" when the writer wishes to stress the exclusion of other tables or the specific identity of that one unit. With strong representation in high-impact sources like The New York Times and Stanford University, it remains a staple of clear and professional English.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

one table

Standard numerical descriptor without the emphasizing adjective "single".

one single table

Adds a redundant numerical value for extreme emphasis on uniqueness.

only one table

Highlights the limitation of quantity rather than the identity of the object.

a solitary table

Conveys a sense of isolation or being alone in a physical space.

a lone table

Suggests the table is physically separated from others, often in a descriptive context.

a standalone table

Implies independence, often used in technical or organizational contexts.

an individual table

Focuses on the table as a separate unit from a larger set.

a centralized table

Used in database contexts to imply consolidation of data into one place.

a unified table

Suggests that multiple elements have been merged into one specific structure.

a unique table

Focuses on the distinctiveness or specific properties of that one table.

FAQs

How do I use "a single table" in a sentence?

You can use it to denote consolidation or isolation. For example, "In this database schema, all records are stored in "a single table" to simplify queries".

What is the difference between "a single table" and "one table"?

While both refer to one unit, "a single table" provides more emphasis on the fact that there are no others, whereas "one table" is a simple numerical count.

Can I use "one single table" for emphasis?

Yes, although it is technically redundant, "one single table" is commonly used in speech and informal writing to stress that there is absolutely no more than one.

What are synonyms for "a single table" in data science?

In a technical context, you might use terms like "unified dataset", "flat file" or "centralized relation" depending on the architecture.