Difference b/n "s'attendre a ce que" and "attendre que"

Question

Hi All,I dont quite understand the necessity of complicating life by using "a ce que" when we can simply use "que" with no losses in meaning. Is there really a difference?Merci

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Dina, 
I think the preposition 'à' makes all the difference. It is not a case of complicating things as the 'ce' is necessary.
The concept of using 'ce' before qui and que, is very difficult to explain to students, and often non-native teachers in my experience can explain it better. 
The two verbs mean totally different things 
1. Attendre que quelqu'un fasse quelque chose = To wait for someone to do something
 verb + que + someone + verb in the subjunctive

J'attends que tu me répondes = I am waiting for you to answer me
Il attend que nous ayons fini = He is waiting for us to be finished
Elles attendent qu'on leur fasse un gâteau = They are waiting for someone to bake them a cake

2. S'attendre à ce que quelqu'un fasse quelque chose = To expect someone to do something

Je m'attends à ce qu'il me fasse une déclaration demain = I am ( fully) expecting him to give me a statement tomorrow 
Ils s'attendent à ce que ça soit très difficile = They expect it to be very difficult
Elle s'attend à ce qu'il vienne la chercher = She is (fully) expecting him to come and fetch her
Je m'attends à ce qu'il soit en retard = I (fully) expect that he will be late

Hope this helps but anyone welcome to jump in and add to this.

Chris Wirt · Answer

The usage is:S'attendre à + nounS'attendre à ce que + subjectStrictly speaking, s'attendre is always followed by a noun. It's just that in the second case the noun is ce.

Dina Kassenova · Answer

Hi Chris,Thank you! I understand the cases with preposition, and think grammatically I have no problems in understanding. My question is more about contextual difference for 2 cases: s'attendre a ce que vs attendre que. To me they look like serving the same purpose, and I dint understand why would one use "a ce que" when just "que" is way easier (quicker). For example, can these two below be used interchangeably?e.g. Je m'attendais à ce que tu me demandes en mariage = J'attendais que tu me demandes en marriageMerci en avance!

Dina Kassenova · Answer

Hi Cecile,Thanks a lot! That is actually very helpful, these extra examples are indeed giving more insight, merci!