[Grammar] I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors with

[NAL123]

1) I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors with.

2) I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors.

Interpretations:

a) I'm looking for some liquid polish in order to shine parquet floors.

b) I'm looking for some liquid polish in order to shine parquet floors with it.

c) I'm looking for some liquid polish that I can shine parquet floors with.

d) I'm looking for some liquid polish that can shine parquet floors.

Q: Of a), b), c) and d), what are the possible interpretations of sentence 1) and sentence 2)?

 

[probus]

All four work for both 1 and 2. How about:

I'm looking for some liquid polish with which to shine parquet floors.

 

[tedmc]

It is called a glossy coating (commonly polyurethane), not a liquid polish. It doesn't really polish the parquet floor. It is just a glossy coating. To polish wood surface (to make it smooth), you need to smoothen it physically using sandpaper or a mechanical polisher/grinder.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1) I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors with.

Fine.

2) I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors.

Fine.

Interpretations:

a) I'm looking for some liquid polish in order to shine parquet floors.

Fine.

b) I'm looking for some liquid polish in order to shine parquet floors with it.

Bad.

c) I'm looking for some liquid polish that I can shine parquet floors with.

Bad.

d) I'm looking for some liquid polish that can shine parquet floors.

Fine.

Q: Of a), b), c) and d), what are the possible interpretations of sentence 1) and sentence 2)?

They all mean the same thing. They mean you want a liquid polish for parquet floors.

 

[tedmc]

Actually, red, it is called liquid polish, and we do use it to polish wood surfaces.

Polishing is an abrasive action on a surface to smoothen it. How does a liquid do that? A liquid merely changes the appearance of a surface by covering it to give it a glossy look.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd simplify the original to "I need some parquet floor [liquid] polish".

 

[emsr2d2]

It is called a glossy coating (commonly polyurethane), not a liquid polish. It doesn't really polish the parquet floor. It is just a glossy coating. To polish wood surface (to make it smooth), you need to smoothen it physically using sandpaper or a mechanical polisher/grinder.

You've completely misunderstood, ted. Polishing has nothing to do with making things smooth. Polishing items of furniture etc is a standard household chore, along with hoovering and cleaning. As a child, if I wanted to earn some extra pocket money, I would offer to polish the dining table, the kitchen table, all the wooden chairs, the coffee tables and then my dad's collection of small silver spoons. None of them involved sandpaper or anything similar. All I needed for the furniture was an aerosol can of Pledge furniture polish and a duster. For my dad's silver spoon collection, it was Duraglit and a special cloth. If we'd had a wooden floor, I'd have just needed the wooden floor equivalent of that can of Pledge and a (bigger) duster.

What you've described sounds more like a type of varnish.

 

[probus]

I guess in Gdansk I could buy Polish polish.

 

[NAL123]

1) I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors with.

2) I'm looking for some liquid polish to shine parquet floors.

Interpretations:

a) I'm looking for some liquid polish in order to shine parquet floors.

b) I'm looking for some liquid polish in order to shine parquet floors with it.

c) I'm looking for some liquid polish that I can shine parquet floors with.

d) I'm looking for some liquid polish that can shine parquet floors.

All four work for both 1 and 2. How about:

I'm looking for some liquid polish with which to shine parquet floors.

Q1: You say sentence (1) implies interpretations (a) and (b). Do you not think that the preposition "with" in sentence (1) would require the pronoun "it" (its complement) to imply meaning (a) or (b)?

Q2: You say sentence (2) implies interpretations (c) and (d). Do you not think that sentence (2) would have to have the preposition "with" (as in sentence (1)) to give meaning (c) or (d)?

 

[probus]

Charlie Bernstein, the OP seems to be talking to you here: "You say ...". I am not at all sure that's what you said, but that's what the OP thinks.