Difference in attendre que and s'attendre à ce que

Rebecca L.C1Kwiziq community member

Difference in attendre que and s'attendre à ce que

After reading the lesson several times and reading the many q&a in the forum, I think I may finally understand the difference.  Can you please tell me if I am correct?  Attendre que + subjunctive clause is to wait for someone or something else to do something; however, s'attendre à ce que + subjunctive clause is different because the focus is on the personal opinion of the person doing the expecting.  There is no opinion involved when using attendre que.  

Asked 3 years ago
Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Rebecca,

As I understand it:-

S'attendre à ce que   --> to expect that ...

Attendre que  --> To wait for ... or await that.... 

Perhaps thinking of S'attendre as "having one's self to wait"  can be useful in terms of  "expecting"

Don't know if that method would work for you, but it helps me to get my head around the different meaning between the two uses of attendre above.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Difference in attendre que and s'attendre à ce que

After reading the lesson several times and reading the many q&a in the forum, I think I may finally understand the difference.  Can you please tell me if I am correct?  Attendre que + subjunctive clause is to wait for someone or something else to do something; however, s'attendre à ce que + subjunctive clause is different because the focus is on the personal opinion of the person doing the expecting.  There is no opinion involved when using attendre que.  

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
I'll be right with you...