By himself...

[pinosilano]

"He sat there drinking the dark beer at the table by himself."

Creo que:

'Se sentó solo en una mesa a beber la cerveza oscura'

¿O no?

Gracias.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pinosilano

"He sat there drinking the dark beer at the table by himself."

Creo que:

'Se sentó solo en una mesa a beber la cerveza oscura'

¿O no?

Gracias.

Correcto.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by pinosilano

"He sat there drinking the dark beer at the table by himself.".

Are you asking if the English is a correct translation of the Spanish? (because I don't think it is.)

[pinosilano]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Are you asking if the English is a correct translation of the Spanish? (because I don't think it is.)

Deseo saber si la frase en inglés la he traducido bien al castellano.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I think Pino caught the right idea if the sentence means he was sitting there with no company.
I have a question though: Could it be that there is an ambiguity of meaning if it actually means he sat without the help of anyone?
(By the way, same ambiguity might appear in Spanish by saying "se sentó solo".)

[wrholt]

To me, sitting by oneself = sitting alone/without companions. This is a state, not an action.

However, sitting down by oneself is potentially ambiguous. For exampe: "I will sit down by myself in that chair" could mean:
a. I will sit down someplace where I am alone/without companions, or:
b. I will sit down without the assistance of another person.

The sentence "I am sitting down by myself" could either be active (I'm in the process of taking a seat), or it could be a state ("My backside is currently resting on the seat."). Saying "by myself" with the active interpretation is ambiguous (alone vs. unassisted), and not ambiguous with the state, where "alone" is the only likely meaning.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thank you, wrholt!

So the sentence in Spanish should sound more like "Estaba ahí sentado solo, bebiéndose/bebiendo la cerveza oscura."

[pinosilano]

Conociendo el contexto, no tuve problemas de ambigüidad, esos que saltaron a los ojos de AdA, y que tan bien lo explicara Wrholt. (La guardaré en mi baúl de tesoros)

(By the way, same ambiguity might appear in Spanish by saying "se sentó solo".)

(¡Supieras lo que sufrí por ese 'solo'!)

De todos modos, lo que quise decir es que hay un hombre solo (solitario) bebiéndose una cerveza oscura en una mesa del bar y no en la barra.

Muchísimas gracias.

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

Thank you, wrholt!

So the sentence in Spanish should sound more like "Estaba ahí sentado solo, bebiéndose/bebiendo la cerveza oscura."

Yes, that's the most natural meaning of the original sentence, at least to my ears.