Esperar - wait for or hope or expect?

Question

I see that esperar can mean 'to wait for' or 'to hope' or 'to expect'.

These are very different meanings in English and I would not be confident of deducing the correct meaning from context - in fact I have often been doubtful of the meaning when I see this verb used in, for example, a newspaper article.

What is the most common use of the verb and what other verbs are available that could be used with more specific meanings?

Answer 1

These meanings are all widely used...It's easy to tell the difference based on the context of the sentence... Espero que = I hope that....because you would never say "I wait that"...just judge what the word means it based on how it sounds in the sentence. There are tons of words like this but they won't slow you down.

Ah yes! The 'que' is a great give-away - thanks. - Jespa, Nov 22, 2009

Maestro!... thank you. - EdiOswaldo, Nov 22, 2009

hmmm - not so sure about that one Jeezle, how about - I'm waiting for you to arrive. Estoy esperando que llegues - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 28, 2013

But you would say "I expect that." There may be many instances of Spanish words with multiple English meanings, but personally I find this the most tricky. - j0equ1nn, Oct 26, 2016

Answer 2

Esperar is wait for a certain period of time. It is physical time. The noun is la espera.

Yo estoy esperando a mi padre. Quizás la espera sea larga.

Hope is esperar and the noun is esperanza. It is not physical but spiritual.

Espero que pronto te cases. I hope you get married soon. Tengo la esperanza.

Answer 3

Espero mi padre llegar. I wait for my father to arrive. Close, but, "Estoy esperando a mi padre" - "I'm waiting for my father (to arrive)." "Espero que llege mi padre" - "I hope my father arrives." Esperar (to hope) is mostly used in simple conjugation only, where esperar (to wait) can be used in both simple and continuous. Note: As in English, Esperanza (Hope) is a girl's name as well as the noun form.

And what about about: "I expect my father will arrive." (Or I expect my fathers arrival.) - derrill, Oct 28, 2013

Estoy esperando que mi padre llegue. - polenta1, Oct 8, 2017

Answer 4

I know that this thread is old, but I have a follow-up question about this topic.

I also learned that esperar can mean "to hope" or "to expect." I think that it would have been better to learn it as "to await," rather that "to expect."

I don't think that I can use it to convey the following English expression:

I expect that tomorrow will be another rainy day. Obviously "to hope" is usually positive (when not using it sarcastically), and my comment above is negative. If i can use it in that expression, it would be very confusing.

Answer 5

"esperar" and "expect" come from the same root (to look forward/ahead). When we say "I expect it will be delivered this afternoon." the sense is primarily of "waiting". In "We expect great things of him." the sense is more of "hoping". To complicate matters, we could also say "I expect that you're right." (which is pretty much the same as "I think that ..."

Que bacan he aprendido cosas nuevas. - EdiOswaldo, Nov 22, 2009

Answer 6

The ending "ar" means to so "esperar" means "to wait for or to hope"

Espero mi padre llegar.

I wait for my father to arrive.