How to use esperar
esperar is one of those basic words in Spanish that you learn pretty early on, not just because it’s a common verb, but because it plays such a large role in understanding the subjunctive mood as well
Here is how you use esperar
There’s no weirdness with esperar from a conjugational perspective. It’s a completely regulary -ar verb… the weirdness comes in just in how it’s used
First, esperar means “to hope” or it also means “to wait (for)” or “to await”. You normally have to use your judgement to decide when it means what, but it’s not usually that difficult:
Eso espero. = I hope so. / That’s what I’m hoping.
Espero que sí. = I hope so. [lit. “I hope that yes”]
Espero que tengas un buen fin de semana. = I hope you have a good weekend.
Estoy esperando su llamada. = I’m waiting for their call.
Espero el autobús. = I’m waiting for the bus.
La espero a ella. = I’m waiting for her. Lo espero a él. = I’m waiting for him.
One important thing to note as far as “to wait” is that the “for” is kind of built into the verb. This is just like buscar which is “to look (for)”
English-speakers have a habit of wanting to add a preposition like por or para to either esperar or buscar because we say “to wait FOR” or “to look FOR”… but the “for” is built into the verb in Spanish in this case.
When you talk about subjunctive, esperar is normally used in the context of “to hope (that something happens)” which is sort of like the desire aspect of subjunctive.
Note: Subjunctive with desire normally has two separate clauses. It’s one person’s desire acting on another. If you hope for something for yourself, that’s indicative.
Espero sentirme mejor. = I hope I feel better. [indicative] Espero poder seguir aprendiendo. = I hope I can keep learning. [indicative]
Espero que te sientas mejor. = I hope (that) you feel better. [subjunctive] Espero que puedas seguir aprendiendo. = I hope (that) you can keep learning.
As far as “to wait”, it can be subjunctive which you would use in the context of “until (something happens)”. This is another aspect of subjunctive which is something like “indefinite events”, that something may or may not happen eventually… but it hasn’t happened yet.
In this case, esperar will take on a que with subjunctive. This a que is a grammatical thing it’s “to wait…. for that (something happens)”.
*As a side note a que shows up in different verbal functions in subjunctive as a way of making it subjunctive… you have obligar which is “to obligate” or “to force”, but as subjunctive obligar a que (haga algo) which is “to obligate/force to do something”.
That a serves a grammatical function, while the que separates the next conjugated verb in the clause. It can be a confusing thing to try to wrap your head around, I know.
Espero el tren. = I’m waiting for the train. Espero a que llegue el tren. = I’m waiting for the train to come.
Espero la llamada. = I’m waiting for the call. Espero a que me llamen. = I’m waiting for them to call me.
Espero la señal. = I’m waiting for the sign. Espero a que me den la señal. = I’m waiting for you to give me the sign.
You can also change this around and make it a bit personal like… espero tu señal “I’m waiting for your sign” vs. espero a que me des la señal “I’m waiting for you to give me the sign”
But in general the subjunctive esperar and esperar a que are very easy to distinguish, even if it is the same verb:
Espero que me llame mi hermana. = I hope my sister calls me. Espero a que me llame mi hermana. = I’m waiting for my sister to call me.
Espero que llegue el avión. = I hope the plane comes. Espero a que llegue el avión. = I’m waiting for the plan to come.
Espero que vuelvan. = I hope they come back. Espero a que vuelvan. = I’m waiting for them to come back.
