Expecting and Waiting 期待和等待的区别 
 

Feifei:   Hello. 大家好！欢迎收听《你问我答》节目。我是冯菲菲，我在等Rob 的到来。
 
DOOR OPENS FX
 
Rob:    Sorry I'm late. I've been waiting for the bus but it never showed up!
 
Feifei:   Well now you're here let's waste no time and get on with today's question which is from Shan in Hong Kong. He's waiting for a reply.
 
Rob:  Oh sorry. Let's have a listen.
 
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Hello. I want to ask a question about the difference between "Expect" and "Wait", as I heard some people say "I'm expecting someone" and I wonder why they don't say "I'm
waiting for someone".  I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, Shan in Hong Kong.
   
Feifei:  来自香港的网友 Shan 的问题是关于两个意思非常相近的单词 expect 和 wait. 比如说 I’m expecting someone 和 I’m waiting for someone. So Rob, there are two ways to say the same thing, right?  
 
Rob:  Wrong! They are similar but there are subtle differences. 
 
Feifei:    Waiting and expecting 在这里的意思相近，但还是有微小区别的 subtle difference.
 
Rob:  I expect you want me to explain?!  
 
Feifei:  We're all waiting Rob.
 
Rob:  Well, when you say you're waiting, you're implying time is passing until something happens. You can wait, or are waiting when somebody or something is late. 
 
Feifei:   Like your bus. 等车的时候时间一秒一秒过去。如果公车或者一个人晚了、迟到了，那么你就在 wait 等待。
 
Rob:  Here's an example…
 
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It's been two weeks and I'm still waiting for Feifei to pay me back that money!
 
Feifei:  上面的这位说他还在等我给他还钱呢。当然这只是个例子，我可从来不欠人钱。So he's waiting for someone to do something.  
 
Rob:  That's it. The verb is to wait and he's having to wait for someone to do something for something to happen.
 
Feifei:  他需要等待或是正在等待，将要发生的一件事儿或是某人来做某事儿。So Rob, if you say you are waiting for a bus, it implies it will turn up eventually. 
 
Rob:  Exactly! And finally, waiting is often a physical thing. We often stand or sit somewhere until something happens.
 
Feifei:  That's true. 我们通常是站着、坐着或是徘徊着等待一件事情发生，或某人出现。
 
Rob:  Listen to this.
 
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Sorry, I’m late. I'm waiting at the bus stop for the number 43 bus. It should have been here an hour ago!
 
Feifei:  像Rob 一样，他也在等一辆本应该早就到站得公车。 
 
Rob:  What is it about buses?! But he's still expecting the bus to turn up.    
 
Feifei:   他知道公车肯定会来，所以他在等。 
 
Rob:  If you are expecting something to happen, you have a good reason to think it will and at a certain time. 
 
Feifei:  Well Rob, I'm expecting you to give us an example.
 
Rob:  Well, wait no longer…
 
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I'm expecting a bus to be here at half past three.
 
Feifei:  他在等一辆到时间就会到来的公车。Expecting 这里的意思是他知道公车会在一个具体的时间来到这个站。How is expecting something different from hoping?
 
Rob:  Well when you are hoping for something to happen you may want it to happen but there's still a chance it might not.
 
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Is there a bus coming soon?

Yeah, I'm hoping there'll be a bus due very soon. If not I've got a long walk home. 
 
Feifei:  他希望公车能快点儿来。He's hoping but it might not. 
 
Rob:  Yes, there's some uncertainty. That's different from expecting, that's when you are assuming the bus will turn up. 
 
Feifei:  当我们 expect 期待某事的时候，我们确定这件事情会发生；而 hope 表示不确定性。So that's three ways to describe a situation; waiting for it, expecting it or hoping for it.  
 
Rob:  Here are some other ways you can use the word expect. I am expecting to win the race. 
 
Feifei:  我觉得能赢得比赛。
 
Rob:  I am expecting to be there at ten o'clock. 
 
Feifei:   我预计10点到。
 
Rob:  I am expecting you to buy me dinner….mmm, Feifei I was expecting you to say that in Chinese!
 
Feifei:  You'll have to keep waiting. I'm not buying you dinner! 注意你也可以期待一个不总是会发生的事情。
 
Rob:  Well, hopefully we have helped to explain Shan's question. Don't forget we would love to hear more of you questions.
 
Feifei:  如果你在英语学习中遇到任何问题，欢迎发邮件给我们到questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk
 
Rob:  We expect to hear from you soon.
 
Feifei:   Don't keep us waiting! Bye.
 
BUS FX
 
Rob:  And there's my bus. Bye, see you soon.