Hi Alexander -- on Sep 18 2019 at 14:14, you wrote:

AK> Reading a novel "The standard of living", by Dorothy Parker, I read this:

AK> -----Beginning of the citation-----
AK> Annabel and Midge had been best friends almost from the day that Midge
AK> had found a job as stenographer with the firm that employed Annabel.
AK> ----- The end of the citation -----

AK> How can I explain to my conscience the absence of "a" before
"stenographer"? ;)

Your conscience may not like this, but:

1) In common English usage, we often drop the article where the context is
unclear. In this example, is Midge the only stenographer, or one of many?

2) You're referencing a book written in 1941, and the language by today's
standards is cumbersome and wordy. This fact makes it difficult to explain if
one isn't intimately familiar with the writing style and grammatical rules
which were in vogue at that time.

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/NT 1.30+