One of my English language learners recently said to me that she was ‘waiting for’ the return of homeworking (French – télétravail) due to the current health crisis. Her use of the expression ‘waiting for’ gave me the impression that in some way she had decided to ‘pause’ her activities until homeworking was reinstated, or perhaps that she was hoping for it. I knew that that wasn’t what she had meant to say and that she had in fact meant that she was ‘expecting’ its return. This is quite a common mistake made by learners of English because in many other European languages there is no distinction here. In French, for example ‘attendre’ means both ‘to expect’ and ‘to wait’. In English however, there is a clear difference between the two verbs, and choosing the incorrect one can lead to confusion.
So, what is the difference between ‘to expect’ and ‘to wait’? Well, it is possible to ‘expect’ and ‘wait’ for something or someone, so these words can be used interchangeably. However, the difference in these words is in their exact meaning and their application.
The action itself or the event at its conclusion?
The main difference is between the importance placed on the action itself and the event at the end of the action.
When you say that you ‘are expecting’ something, you are not talking about the passage of time spent before that event, but the event itself and, its importance. For example;
- ‘‘Have you had any news about your exam?’’ ‘‘Not yet, but I am expecting a call from my teacher later today’’
In this conversation, the time spent before the call is not the important thing. However, the future event, that is to say, ‘the call from the teacher’ is important.
When you say that you are ‘waiting for’ something, you are not talking about the coming event but the action of passing the time until that future event happens. For example;
- ‘‘Why are you standing here on the street?’’ ‘’I’m waiting for a taxi’’
In this conversation, the future event is not the important thing, the person asking the question wants to know what the other person is doing at that moment.
Put simply, the question ‘what are you doing’ or ‘why are you here’ can be answered properly by ‘I am waiting for…’, but not by ‘I am expecting…’. So, while ‘to wait’ is a physical action, ‘to expect’ is more of a mental state such as ‘to hope’, ‘to anticipate’ and ‘to envisage’. So, ‘to expect’ is a verb which describes the anticipated result rather whereas ‘to wait’ describes the action itself or the time spent doing the action.
Other differences
To expect
‘To expect’ means to ‘look forward to’ something which is a strong possibility. For example:
- ‘’We are expecting a visitor soon’’ (meaning – ‘’we know or we have evidence which tells us that a visitor will probably come’’).
It can also mean to think with certainty someone will come or something will happen. For example:
- ‘’I expect to get a promotion this year.
It can mean to see something as being fair, justifiable, or necessary.
For example:
- ‘‘Our policy document tells us what is expected of all new students’’.
When we say that we ‘expect’ something, it suggests a high probability of something happening or arriving. It also indicates preparation has been in anticipation of the coming event. For example:
- ‘’Her dinner is all ready, I’m expecting her any time now!’’
To wait
When we say ‘to wait’, it suggests being patient, or remaining in a particular place until something happens. For example:
- ‘’We will wait here until our package comes.’’
It can also mean ‘not do anything’ until something else happens. For example:
- ‘’We will wait until the baby’s born to decide if we need to move house’’.
‘To wait’ can have the meaning of ‘being patient’ while ‘hoping’ that something will happen. For example:
- ‘’We will wait (be patient) and see if the delivery comes (we hope it will).
This last meaning of ‘patiently waiting and hoping’ is what I understood from my student’s comments described at the beginning of this post. What she in fact meant to convey was that she ‘expected’ the return of homeworking, because it was something which she believed with some certainty was going to happen, based on the information she had available.
Finally – it is of course possible to use both verbs in the same sentence but with their different meanings. For example:
- ‘’I am here, waiting for the bus. I’m expecting it any moment now’’. Here;
‘waiting for’ – what I am physically doing / how I am spending my time.
‘expecting’ – anticipating or hoping in my mind.
I hope that makes the distinction between both of these verbs very clear. You won’t have to ‘wait’ too long for my next blog, you can ‘expect’ it next week!
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