# They managed to lift the weight off the water



## Baltic Sea

Hello everybody!

I would like to ask you if it's possible to say *"They managed to lift the weight off the water"* in English.

*"They managed to lift the barge off the water"* is supposed to mean *"*_*Udało im się unieść ciężar nad wodą(ę)"*_.

I thought to myself: I will follow this line of logic. Since "to lift something off the ground" means "unieść coś nad ziemię (z ziemi)", it may be possible to say *"They managed to lift the barge off the water"* as an English translation of Polish version *"*_*Udało im się unieść ciężar nad wodą(ę)"*_.

Am I right or should I say *"They managed to lift the barge above/over the water".*

The source: I have created this sentence based on a real situation in the Ship Repair Yard.


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## LilianaB

I would say: They managed to lift the barge above the water surface. You may ask about the other alternatives in the English Only forum.


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## Baltic Sea

Thank you. The thing is that I would prefer this sentence to be checked by a bilingual person (speaking English and Polish, at least). If I start this thread in English Only Forum, English-Speaking members will not understand what I am talking about regarding the Polish version.


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## LilianaB

Baltic, what exactly do you have in mind? Is it a barge or something else? Is the object submerged first, on the bottom, partially submerged, floating or something else? Then, I guess you (or somebody else) use the crane and lift the object above the surface of the water. Is that right?  If the barge, or another object, were submerged you could say: it was lifted out of the water. If it were on the bottom of the bay, or dock -- you could say "lifted up from the bottom of the Ocean".


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## NotNow

_Off the water_ is just fine. _ Above_ and_ over_ mean the barge never touched the water.


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## LilianaB

NotNow said:


> _Off the water_ is just fine. _ Above_ and_ over_ mean the barge never touched the water.



Why wouldn't the barge touch the water -- wasn't it originally in the water?


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## ewie

LilianaB said:


> Baltic, what exactly do you have in mind? Is it a barge or something else? Is the object submerged first, on the bottom, partially submerged, floating or something else? Then, I guess you (or somebody else) use the crane and lift the object above the surface of the water. Is that right?  If the barge, or another object, were submerged you could say: it was lifted out of the water. If it were on the bottom of the bay, or dock -- you could say "lifted up from the bottom of the Ocean".


 If the barge was totally submerged and you lifted it on to the quayside, you'd lift it _out of the water_.
If the barge was on the surface and (for whatever reason) you lifted it on to the quayside, you'd lift it _off the water_ *or* _out of the water_.

In short, we really need to know (in English) the starting-position of the barge.  (Though _out of the water_ works for both positions)


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## Baltic Sea

In the Ship Repair Yard where I work, tests of ship's cranes were performed on Friday by means of our yard's barge. The barge constituted a weight. For this purpose, the barge was lifted off the water (barkę uniesiono nad wodą/ę - in Polish). I think that the purpose of any barge is to be on the water or afloat. Barges usually float on the water, don't they?


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## ewie

Baltic Sea said:


> the barge was lifted off the water





Baltic Sea said:


> Barges usually  float on the water, don't they?


Well yes, unless they sink.


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## LilianaB

Baltic Sea said:


> In the Ship Repair Yard where I work, tests of ship's cranes were performed on Friday by means of our yard's barge. The barge constituted a weight. For this purpose, the barge was lifted off the water (barkę uniesiono nad wodą/ę - in Polish). I think that the purpose of any barge is to be on the water or afloat. Barges usually float on the water, don't they?



Well, they are partially submerged, Baltic. They don't float the way leaves do.


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## Baltic Sea

The solution to the problem is as follows: either *"They managed to lift the weight off the water"* or *"They managed to lift the barge above/over the water"* is good.


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## NotNow

Like I said previously, the first sentence is correct.


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## Baltic Sea

Thank you all very much.


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## ewie

Baltic Sea said:


> *"They managed to lift the barge above/over the water"* is good.


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## Baltic Sea

What does  mean, Ewie?


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## wolfbm1

Hello Baltic Sea. I wonder if any of the following sentences agree with your way of thinking about the whole event. 
1. Udało im się *pod*nieść barkę/ciężar ponad wodę. 
OR
2. Udało im się *pod*nieść barkę/ciężar z (powierzchni) wody. 

I think your original sentence with unieść barkę means that the crane was able to hold the barge/weight above the surface of water. Won't you agree?
Check this definition of dźwig portowy:  Dźwig portowy jest tak skonstruowany, że może wykonywać kilka operacji jednocześnie: *podnosić* i opuszczać ładunki, http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dźwig_portowy It says nothing about unosić.


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## Baltic Sea

Thank you, Wolfbm1. I really don't know what to think about it. Some members seem to be split over the issue.


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## wolfbm1

I think you want to say that the crane was able to lift the barge *off the water/out of the water* and *hold it above* the surface of the water for some reason.
Anything floating on water is lighter when compared to its weight out of water (Archimedes' principle).


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## Baltic Sea

Thank you again, Wolfbm1.


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## wolfbm1

Baltic Sea said:


> Thank you again, Wolfbm1.


I think, you could also say: They managed to *hoist* the barge *out of the water*.
Visit the English Only Forum and type the word "hoist". There are interesting discussions with that word in the title.


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## ewie

Baltic Sea said:


> What does  mean, Ewie?


It just means that neither of those is idiomatic English.

If the finishing-point of the barge is 'in the air above the surface of the water'
*Starting-point of barge "on the surface of the water"*: _They lifted/hoisted the barge off the water // They lifted/hoisted the barge out of the water_.
*Starting-point of barge "on land"*: _They lifted/hoisted the barge up and out over the water_ // _They lifted/hoisted the barge out over the water. _(Here _out_ = 'away from the land', 'off the land'.)


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