# to wait for, expect



## ThomasK

The _conceive of _question reminded me of the verb *'wait'*, which is not always followed by a preposition in other languages, and *'expect'*, often considered related. 

English : _*wait for*_ (or _wait on_ [does that make a difference ?]) / _*expect*_ (
lit.: _look out_)
Dutch : _*wachten op / verwachten* _
German : _*warten auf / erwarten* _

French:_ *attendre*_ (lit. : _tendre vers_, I think, stretching for or something the like)/ id. 
Italian : _a*spettare* (_lit._ looking at...)/_ id. ? 

_So there seems to be a preposition, or a preposition used as a prefix. And some languages do not make a distinction, so it seems... _


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## Outsider

The word is the same in Portuguese as well, _*esperar*_. Its etymon is the Latin _*sperare*_.

With regards to French, I was under the impression that a distinction was made between *attendre* and _*espérer*_.


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## ThomasK

Yes, but attendre and espérer are different, I think: _expect_ and _hope_, which are not quite the same. But I am not a native speaker of French !

How about 'wait for' ? Is it also _*esperar*_ ?


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## Outsider

I'm under the impression that the precise verb for "hope" in French is _*souhaiter*_... though on second thoughts this can also mean "wish"... It would be nice to hear the opinions of some native speakers.


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## Encolpius

It works also in Hungarian. 

wait for = *vár *valaki*re* / valami*re* [-re means *for*, we put prepositions at the end, valaki, valami means someone, something]
expect something = *vár *valamit or with a prefix *elvár* valamit

and we use the verb vár (to wait, to expect) in both cases*. 
*


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## apmoy70

I think Greek is the perfect example for it:
-To wait is «Περιμένω» (peri'meno) fron the ancient «περιμένω» (pĕrī'mĕnō--> preposition περὶ-, pĕrī-, "around, about, beyond, enclosing" + verb μένω, 'mĕnō, "stand fast, stay where one is, lodge"). Περιμένω lit. means "to wait, stand still, stay around".
-To expect is «Aναμένω» (ana'meno) from the ancient «ἀναμένω» (ānā'mĕnō--> preposition ἀνὰ-, ānā-, "up, on, upon, throughout, again" + verb μένω, 'mĕnō, "stand fast, stay where one is, lodge"). Αναμένω lit. means "to wait for, await, expect".


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## Grop

_Espérer_ means "hope" as well, although in some regional dialects of South-East France it can have the meaning of "wait".

_Attendre_ is to wait.

In some contexts "expect" can be _attendre_, but in most contexts _to expect something_ is _s'attendre à quelque chose_.


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## Awwal12

*Russian*:
ждать (zhd*a*t') - to wait
ожидать (ozhid*a*t') - to expect


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## bibax

Czech:
čekati na = to wait for
očekávati = to expect


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## Hakro

In *Finnish* we can use the verb _odottaa_ both for "to wait for" and "to expect", but an exact translation for "to expect" would be _edellyttää_.

_Odotan bussia_ = I'm waiting for the bus.
_Odotan että teet läksysi_ = I'm waiting till you do your homework
or
_Odotan että teet läksysi_ = I expect you to do your homework (maybe a bit colloquial)
_Edellytän että teet läksysi_ = I expect you to do your homework


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## ThomasK

Interesting about Finnish: you do not really seem to need 'expect', where to me there is quite some difference between 'I'll be waiting for you this evening' and 'I expect you at 8' (or isn't there? Is the difference mainly the connotation ?).  But how about: 

_'I expect your homework by 8 this evening ?' _

Is the 'o' in Slavic something like 'out', 'ex-' ? Or is it still different ? 
_(Thanks)_


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## bibax

The Slavic verbal prefix o- is usually equivalent to Latin circum- (around).

caedere, secare = řezati, sekati
circumcidere, circumsecare = ořezati/ořezávati, osekati/osekávati (perf./imp.)

BTW, in Latin there is also circumspectare = to look about;


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## ThomasK

Very interesting. Thanks !


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## Hakro

ThomasK said:


> Interesting about Finnish: you do not really seem to need 'expect', where to me there is quite some difference between 'I'll be waiting for you this evening' and 'I expect you at 8' (or isn't there? Is the difference mainly the connotation ?). But how about:
> 
> _'I expect your homework by 8 this evening ?' _
> 
> Is the 'o' in Slavic something like 'out', 'ex-' ? Or is it still different ?
> _(Thanks)_


We do really need the verb _edellyttää_ (to expect). When speaking colloquially, we can substitute it by _odottaa_ (which is a bit "milder"), but in written texts where it's difficult or impossible to express your attitude you have to use the ver _edellyttää_.

_'I expect your homework by 8 this evening ?'_  If you'd say it to your son you'd use the verb _odottaa_, just to be friendly. If a teacher says it to a pupil he'd use the verb _edellyttää_, just to be more severe.

By the way: Finnish is not a Slavic language.


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## ThomasK

I am sorry about the misunderstanding concerning Slavic, but I was referring to message #8 and 9 about Slavic. 

_And you need not convince me of the fact that Finnish is not Slavic, or not even IE: I studied some Finnish vocabulary from mid-January to mid-February, and I noticed it had come from a different... planet ! ;-)_


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## Hakro

ThomasK said:


> I am sorry about the misunderstanding concerning Slavic, but I was referring to message #8 and 9 about Slavic./QUOTE]
> In fact I was sure that your phrase about Slavic didn't concern Finnish, but I wanted to punctuate it for other readers.


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## Dymn

Same verb in *Catalan *and *Spanish *for "to wait", "to hope" and "to expect": _esperar_


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## Olaszinhok

*Italian:*
to wait/for = *aspettare* but also *attendere* (the latter is a bit more formal)
to hope     = *sperare*
to expect   = *aspettarsi/ attendersi* (reflexive verb)


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## ThomasK

Just for a second I thought there might be an etymological link between the three 'spe's. However, _*sperare*_ has a pie. root **spe*, to thrive, not **spek* meaning seeing or no, 'to observe', that we find in expect, respect, etc. .


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## ilocas2

By the way, Russian is the only Slavic language that doesn't have a descendant of Proto-Slavic _*čekati_ or _*čakati_ for "to wait".


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## Kotlas

Awwal12 said:


> *Russian*:
> ждать (zhd*a*t') - to wait
> ожидать (ozhid*a*t') - to expect





ilocas2 said:


> By the way, Russian is the only Slavic language that doesn't have a descendant of Proto-Slavic _*čekati_ or _*čakati_ for "to wait".


@ilocas2 Actually, we do have one word (or rather a phrase) that has a descendant of _čekati_ or _*čakati_ for "to wait": *быть начеку* [byt' nachekù]; it used to be spelled separately _na chekù, _but then the preposition _na_ (Eng. on) turned into a prefix. *Быть начеку* [byt' nachekù] means "to be on guard", it also meant "to be awaiting" in old days.
Etymologically, the Russian verb ждать (zhd*a*t') is related to the Slovenian ždéti, ždim, Old Czech ždáti, ždu, Polish żdać, Lithuanian geidžiù (to long for), geĩsti  (to wish), gaĩdas (longing), Old Prussian gēide (they are waiting), sengidaut (reach).


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## ThomasK

So some kind of longing, one could say. Now, I thought of this: _wait_ and _watch_ are related. Both refer basically to being strong, lively, Etymonline.com suggests, so alert, looking out for...


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## Sardokan1.0

ThomasK said:


> Now, I thought of this: _wait_ and _watch_ are related.



look at these :


*English *: _Await (to wait)_
*Spanish *: _Aguaitar _(to watch)
*Catalan *: _Aguaitar _(to wander looking around)

*Sardinian *: _Abbaidare _(to watch)
*Ancient Italian* : _Abbadare _(to take care of someone, to keep an eye on, to watch)
*Italian *: _Agguato _(ambush)


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## ThomasK

You mean that those all illustrate the link with the Indo-European *_*weg*_, do you? It might well be true. Most certainly for the -_gua(i)t_- verbs, I'd hesitate a little as for the _-bad-_verbs, but I guess you're right: b and w are both bilabial...


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## Sardokan1.0

ThomasK said:


> I'd hesitate a little as for the _-bad-_verbs, but I guess you're right: b and w are both bilabial...



During the evolution of (northern) Sardinian the diphtong UA or UI when preceded by G or Q often ended up transformed to BA

some example :

_Aqua -> A*bba*
Equa (female horse) -> Egua (south Sardinia) E*bba* (north Sardinia)
Guardare (to guard) -> *Ba*rdiare
Lingua -> Lim*ba*
Anguilla -> Am*bi*dda
Quattuor -> *Bà*ttor
Quadraginta -> *Ba*ranta
_
moreover the change from T to D is common in Sardinian, think to Latin past participles : 

_Exitus -> Essidu
 Manducatus -> Mandigadu
Sonatus -> Sonadu
Cantatus -> Cantadu
Amatus -> Amadu_

etc.etc.


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## ThomasK

Very interesting information, thanks a lot!


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## Penyafort

While it is true that _esperar _is 'to wait for', 'to hope' and 'to expect', differences in prepositions and contexts leave it clear.

_Espero que apruebes_ usually means 'I hope you pass'
_Espero de ti que apruebes_ means 'I expect you to pass'

_Esperábamos a que dejase de llover - _We were waiting for the rain to stop
_Esperábamos que dejase de llover _- We hoped it would stop raining (if the context is that of a wish)
_Esperábamos que dejase de llover _- We expected the rain to stop (if it was something expected)​


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