Expect, Wait for and Hope

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Expect, Wait for and Hope

In this lesson, you can identify expectation and build its participant pattern.

Created by , British English teacher.

I’m studying:

Try the activities, then check your answers.

Choose a short recording.

Before you start

Distinguish wanting news from believing it will arrive.

See one possible response

I hope for good news, but I don’t expect it yet.

You coordinate a fictional family train journey and a collection from the station.

What you will practise
  • Identify expectation and build its participant pattern.
  • State who is waiting and who is to act.
  • Distinguish desire from expectation and choose the correct complement.

Try first. For open responses, a model is one valid answer, not an exact-string key. Preserve the intended meaning and register.

Expect: a belief or requirement

Expect can introduce what you think will happen: We expect the train to arrive soon. Use expect + object + to-infinitive, expect + that-clause, or expect + noun. In some contexts it expresses a requirement rather than a prediction.

We expect the train to reach Westford at six.

The host expects guests to call before arriving.

Wait: time before an event

Wait describes remaining until something happens. Use wait for + person or thing, wait to + verb, or wait for + person + to-infinitive. Waiting does not guarantee the event will happen.

We’re waiting for our cousin outside the station.

I’m waiting for her to send the platform number.

Two smartly dressed adult relatives wait beside luggage outside a railway station, looking towards its entrance.
We’re waiting for our cousin outside the station.They are the people waiting; their cousin is the person awaited. The picture does not confirm that the cousin arrives.

Name the waiter and the person who must act

I: waitingfor my cousinto send a message
I’m waiting for my cousin to send a message. I am waiting; my cousin is the intended sender. Waiting does not confirm that the message will arrive.

Hope: a desired outcome

Hope expresses something you want to happen. Use hope to when the person hoping performs the action, or hope + clause when you state the event explicitly. Hope for takes a noun phrase. Compare I hope to meet her with I hope she meets us.

I hope to reach the station before six.

We hope she can collect us, but we haven’t asked yet.

Guided practice

Say or write your answer first. Then compare the meaning and grammar with the model.

1. You remain on a bench until a train comes. Choose wait or hope to describe that activity.

Compare a model and explanation

I’m waiting for the train.

Waiting describes the time before arrival; hoping would express a desire.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

2. I hope her to call. Keep her as the caller.

Compare a model and explanation

I hope she calls.

Hope does not normally take this object + to pattern; a finite clause supplies the caller.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

3. I think our guests will arrive early. Use expect + object.

Compare a model and explanation

I expect our guests to arrive early.

Guests is the subject of the understood arrival.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

4. I’m waiting for Dan to book. Who books?

Compare a model and explanation

Dan.

For Dan identifies the actor of book, not the waiter.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

5. I hope to travel tonight. I expect to travel tonight. What changes?

Compare a model and explanation

The first stresses desire; the second presents a belief about the likely plan.

Both use the same-subject infinitive, but the attitudes differ.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

6. We waited for a taxi. Does this establish that a taxi arrived?

Compare a model and explanation

No.

The waiting can end without the awaited event occurring.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

7. We want a quiet carriage. Use hope for.

Compare a model and explanation

We’re hoping for a quiet carriage.

For introduces the desired noun phrase.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

8. Your booking says six; you remain at the station; a lift home would be welcome but is unconfirmed. Use all three verbs.

Compare a model and explanation

We expect to arrive at six. Our cousin is waiting for us. We hope she can give us a lift home, but that is not confirmed.

Each verb performs a different job; the hope is not reported as an arrangement.

Accept a grammatical alternative that satisfies the stated prompt and this item’s explanation; the model is not an exhaustive exact-string key.

A short conversation

Listen to the exchange, then take one role. The speaker labels identify roles; do not narrate them.

Open the conversation transcript

Traveller: We expect to reach Westford at six. Are you waiting at the station?

Cousin: Not yet. I’m waiting for you to confirm the platform.

Traveller: I’ll send it when it appears. We hope you can stay for dinner afterwards.

Cousin: I’d like that, but I need to check my evening plans.

Listening checks

Listen to each extract, then choose the best answer. These three questions have their own score.

1. What does expect express here?
Read the listening transcript

I expect the train to arrive at six because that is the scheduled time. I haven’t received a delay message.

2. Who is expected to buy the tickets?
Read the listening transcript

I’m waiting for Nuri to buy the tickets. Then I can choose the seats.

3. Which interpretation fits?
Read the listening transcript

I hope to visit in May, but I don’t expect to get leave then.

Answer key with explanations

  1. What does expect express here?

    A belief about the arrival.: The schedule supports a prediction, not a guarantee.

    Compare all choices
    • Proof that the train has arrived.: The arrival is still anticipated.
    • A demand that the listener drive the train.: No such requirement is made.
    • A belief about the arrival.: The schedule supports a prediction, not a guarantee.

  2. Who is expected to buy the tickets?

    Nuri.: Nuri is the actor before to buy.

    Compare all choices
    • Nuri.: Nuri is the actor before to buy.
    • The speaker.: The speaker is waiting and will choose seats.
    • Both people necessarily.: A joint purchase is not stated.

  3. Which interpretation fits?

    The visit is desired but not considered likely.: Hope and negative expectation point in different directions.

    Compare all choices
    • The speaker does not want to visit.: Hope expresses the opposite desire.
    • The visit is desired but not considered likely.: Hope and negative expectation point in different directions.
    • The visit is confirmed.: No confirmation is given.
A woman waits beside a coach and looks towards its front passenger seats before boarding.
I hope to sit near the front.Hope expresses the traveller’s desired seat. She has not boarded, and the picture does not confirm that she will get it.

Mastery quiz

Choose the best answer for each situation. The score is out of eight.

1. Which sentence keeps the visitor as the arriving person?
2. You want someone else to succeed. Which hope pattern is standard?
3. Which sentence says the speaker is waiting before leaving personally?
4. What does We waited for a reply guarantee?
5. The trainer says I expect everyone to arrive on time as a course requirement. What is central?
6. Which noun-complement pattern works?
7. Does I expect a cancellation mean I want one?
8. Which update preserves an unconfirmed wish?
Answer key with explanations

  1. Which sentence keeps the visitor as the arriving person?

    We expect the visitor to arrive soon.: The object identifies who will arrive.

    Compare all choices
    • We expect the visitor arriving soon.: For this prediction, the target complement is to arrive or a full clause.
    • We expect the visitor to arrive soon.: The object identifies who will arrive.
    • We expect to the visitor arrive soon.: This breaks the object + to-infinitive pattern.

  2. You want someone else to succeed. Which hope pattern is standard?

    I hope she succeeds.: A finite clause states the other actor.

    Compare all choices
    • I hope her to succeed.: Hope does not normally use this object + to frame.
    • I hope for she succeeds.: For takes a noun phrase here, not a finite clause.
    • I hope she succeeds.: A finite clause states the other actor.

  3. Which sentence says the speaker is waiting before leaving personally?

    I’m waiting to leave.: The waiter is also the understood leaver.

    Compare all choices
    • I’m waiting to leave.: The waiter is also the understood leaver.
    • I hope Lee leaves.: This expresses desire, not the speaker’s waiting activity.
    • I’m waiting for Lee to leave.: Lee is the leaver in this sentence.

  4. What does We waited for a reply guarantee?

    A period of waiting, not receipt of a reply.: The awaited event may fail to occur.

    Compare all choices
    • A reply was received.: Waiting alone does not establish this.
    • A period of waiting, not receipt of a reply.: The awaited event may fail to occur.
    • The reply was positive.: Neither receipt nor content is given.

  5. The trainer says I expect everyone to arrive on time as a course requirement. What is central?

    An expectation functioning as a requirement.: The stated context determines this use.

    Compare all choices
    • A completed arrival.: The sentence concerns expected conduct.
    • Only a statistical prediction.: The context expressly presents a requirement.
    • An expectation functioning as a requirement.: The stated context determines this use.

  6. Which noun-complement pattern works?

    We hope for clear weather.: Hope for takes the desired noun phrase.

    Compare all choices
    • We hope for clear weather.: Hope for takes the desired noun phrase.
    • We hope clear weather to.: The pattern is incomplete.
    • We hope to clear weather.: Clear is intended as an adjective here, not a verb after to.

  7. Does I expect a cancellation mean I want one?

    No.: Belief and desire are different.

    Compare all choices
    • Yes, unless the sentence is past.: Tense does not make belief identical to desire.
    • No.: Belief and desire are different.
    • Yes, expect always means hope.: That collapses two attitudes.

  8. Which update preserves an unconfirmed wish?

    We hope she can collect us; we haven’t arranged it.: The desired event remains unconfirmed.

    Compare all choices
    • She will collect us; we haven’t asked her.: This asserts more certainty than the evidence supports.
    • She collected us tomorrow.: The tense conflicts with the future reference.
    • We hope she can collect us; we haven’t arranged it.: The desired event remains unconfirmed.

Use it in your own words

Three attitudes

Describe one travel event you expect, one thing you are waiting for and one outcome you hope for.

Reveal a possible response

I expect the coach to be busy. I’m waiting for the ticket email. I hope to sit near the front.

  • Separate belief, waiting and desire
  • Use the correct complements

Fictional travel is welcome; no current timetable is needed.

Clarify who acts

A friend thinks you are buying the tickets, but you are waiting for someone else to do it. Explain and request an update.

Reveal a possible response

I’m not buying them. I’m waiting for Keiko to book, and I expect her to message us afterwards. Could you check whether she has started?

  • Identify the buyer
  • Keep expectation separate from completion

Other people and practical actions are acceptable.

Put it all together

A relative is planning a visit. Give an expected arrival, explain a pending action by another person and express an unconfirmed hope for the visit.

Reveal a possible response

We expect you to arrive on Friday. I’m waiting for my brother to confirm the spare room. I hope we can all have lunch together, but I’ll check everyone’s plans first.

  • Keep each actor clear
  • Avoid turning a hope into a promise
  • Produce a coherent update

Change the details while preserving the three distinct meanings.

Take it with you

Expect concerns an anticipated outcome, wait concerns time before an event, and hope expresses a desired possibility. Choose the complement pattern that fits the intended meaning.