Esperar: how to distinguish between Hope and Expectation?

Question

As I understand it, Esperar can express both a hope and expectation for something to happen, but mistakingly using one or the other can have bad consequences. How would you translate the following examples about an upcoming tennis match:

I hope to beat him

I expect to beat him

Obviously the latter is a lot more arrogant and will not be well-received with the opponent's fans. How can I prevent being misunderstood?

Answer 1

¡Hola!, S1r-Wakka:

Either sentence by itself may be misunderstood, although, as you have said, the second is more 'puffed up" than the first. Try progressing gently into what you want to say, for example"

"He practicado y preparado. Estoy en buenas condiciones. Yo quiero ganar y creo que puedo. Espero que tenga éxito."

In this way, listemers will understand how you have "psyched yourself up" for the match and what you want out of it.

Muchos saludos y buena suerte/Best regards and good luck,

Moe

I see you use the subjunctive there to incorporate a level of modesty? Where I live, if I'd say "I expect to beat this guy", irrelevant of confidence, I'd turn people against me. - S1r_Wakka, Nov 16, 2011

I mean who says the other guy didn't train hard as well? - S1r_Wakka, Nov 16, 2011

Answer 2

Are you sure that you are not looking at this issue from an English rather than Spanish perspective? It is not always helpful to expect that both languages will superimpose perfectly.

I would imagine that it would be fine to say

"Espero vencerlo"

Compare that with

Creo que voy a vencerlo

or

Voy a vencerlo

It's for a large part also understanding Spanish I hear or see. But also expressing myself. My experience is low so I'll often have to rely on translation. - S1r_Wakka, Nov 16, 2011