the demand for robots/ infinitive or gerund?

[navi tasan]

1) The demand for robots to clean houses and apartments is surpassing the supply.
2) The demand for robots for cleaning houses and apartments is surpassing the supply.

Which is correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

They're both possible.

 

[jutfrank]

Which is correct?

You keep asking this. It's a very poor question.

Tell us what you mean and we'll tell you how to say it.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you both very much,

I've always had a problem with the way the infinitive and the 'for+gerund' constructions are used. In this case the word 'demand' confused me as well.

a) There is a demand for him to resign.
b) There is a demand for robots to clean houses.

I think b is ambiguous, technically speaking. It could be structurally equivalent to a, and it could also mean
c) There is a demand for robots that clean houses.

Would you say that is correct?

 

[Piscean]

Yes.

 

[PaulMatthews]

Thank you both very much,

I've always had a problem with the way the infinitive and the 'for+gerund' constructions are used. In this case the word 'demand' confused me as well.

a) There is a demand for him to resign.
b) There is a demand for robots to clean houses.

I think b is ambiguous, technically speaking. It could be structurally equivalent to a, and it could also mean
c) There is a demand for robots that clean houses.

Would you say that is correct?

No:

There's nothing ambiguous about b), and it does not entail c).

The syntax is the same in a) and b).

 

[Piscean]

a) There is a demand for him to resign.
b) There is a demand for robots to clean houses.

I think b is ambiguous, technically speaking. It could be structurally equivalent to a, and it could also mean
c) There is a demand for robots that clean houses.

I agree.

You might crudely break them like this:

There is a demand for robots....... to clean houses. There are robots. The demand is for them to clean houses
There is a demand for.......robots to clean houses. The demand is for robots that clean houses.

 

[PaulMatthews]

Thank you both very much,

I've always had a problem with the way the infinitive and the 'for+gerund' constructions are used. In this case the word 'demand' confused me as well.

a) There is a demand for him to resign.
b) There is a demand for robots to clean houses.

I think b is ambiguous, technically speaking. It could be structurally equivalent to a, and it could also mean
c) There is a demand for robots that clean houses.

Would you say that is correct?

[1] There is a demand for robots [to clean houses].
[2] There is a demand for robots [that clean houses].

I'm inclined to say that these have different meanings.

[1] asserts that the demand is not just for robots, but for them to actually be employed cleaning houses at the present time. By contrast, [2] asserts that there is demand for robots that are capable of cleaning houses, but says nothing of whether they will actually be used. Perhaps they will be stored away and never actually used. It has a modal meaning comparable to that expressed by "can" or "should". Compare There is a demand for robots that can clean houses.

Grammatically, the bracketed element in [1] is an infinitival clause interpreted as a purpose adjunct in clause structure, while in [2] it is a relative clause in NP structure modifying "robots".

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you both very much,

We could consider these two sentences:

a) We need men to respect women more.
b) We need men to work on the docks.

There is a syntactical difference between them, isn't there?

The first one is a general statement. The second one expresses the need for a certain number of men to work on the docks.

I don't suppose they can be parsed in the same way.

I think Piscean would say that b means that there is a need for men that will work on the docks.

My gut instinct is telling me that Paul is correct, but logic seems to be on Piscean's side!

 

[jutfrank]

There is a demand for.......robots to clean houses. The demand is for robots that clean houses.

I can't find an equivalence here.

 

[jutfrank]

a) We need men to respect women more.

This means that more respect for women (by men) is needed. Respecting women more is what we need men to do. It's about men's attitudes.

b) We need men to work on the docks.

This means that men are needed. We don't have enough of them working on the docks.

Yes, the two sentences look the same on the surface but they're quite different. It's about recruiting people.