Esperar vs Desear?

Question

Can these words be used interchangeably, or do they have different meanings?

In this case, can they both mean wish?

Te deseo un feliz cumpleaños. ( I wish you a happy birthday.)

Te espero un feliz cumpleaños. (I wish you a happy birthday.)

Thanks!

Answer 1

I think esperar is more like hope than to wish.

See #2 in the definition for desear. That looks like what you want.

Answer 2

i think that there can be some common ground between the two verbs,

like in your example they can be seen as the same, but esperar also is used as the verb to wait. and there are many ways you would use the word hope, that you wouldn't use wish, they are after all a different feeling.

Answer 3

I looked them up in the dictionary on this site. The second definition for deseo could be wish and espero is hope.I think there are subtle differences but in this context either could be used as wish.

Answer 4

I think that esperar means to Hope and or to wait for someone. Complitly different from wish.

Answer 5

"Desear" holds more of a "desire" connotation than "esperar."