expect, hope, look mean to await some occurrence or outcome. expect implies a high degree of certainty and usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning. Expect, hope or wait?

Understanding the Context

We use expect to say that we believe that something will happen. We use expect in the following main patterns: … To expect is to look forward to the likely occurrence or appearance of someone or something: "We should not expect something for nothing—but we all do and call it Hope" (Edgar W. Howe). EXPECT definition: to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of.

Key Insights

See examples of expect used in a sentence. Definition of expect verb in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. If you tell someone not to expect something, you mean that the thing is unlikely to happen as they have planned or imagined, and they should not hope that it will. You expect that something will happen: We expect that we will arrive at about midday.

Final Thoughts

You say that you expected that something would happen: They had not expected that there would be so much traffic. If you expect (or anticipate) something, you are fairly sure that it is coming, though you might not be totally certain. You might expect to graduate from a certificate program on time, barring unforeseen events that prevent you from going to class.