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Thread: Wait vs await

  1. 03-Nov-2012, 06:12 #1
    diplomacy
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    Default Wait vs await

    What is the difference between wait and await?

    Are these sentences correct?

    1/He waits me at his office.
    2/I will be awaiting his reply.
    3/She awaits his gift.
    4/You await her over there.
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  2. 03-Nov-2012, 07:28 #2
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    Default Re: Wait vs await

    Quote Originally Posted by diplomacy View Post
    What is the difference between wait and await?
    The first is intransitive, the second transitive.
    Are these sentences correct?

    1/He waits me at his office.
    2/I will be awaiting his reply.
    3/She awaits his gift.
    4/You await her over there.
    These are more natural:
    1. He is waiting for me ..
    4. You (should/can/could) wait for her ...
    Context is important. Please provide enough for us to be able to deal effectively with your question.
    Your thread title should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.
    If you just want to know the meaning of a word, try OneLook Dictionary Search first.

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  3. 03-Nov-2012, 09:43 #3
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    Default Re: Wait vs await

    I am not a teacher, nor a native speaker.

    I think it is also worth mention that the verb await is more formal as the OALD says.
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  4. 03-Nov-2012, 10:08 #4
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    emsr2d2
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    Default Re: Wait vs await

    Quote Originally Posted by AlexAD View Post
    I am not a teacher, nor a native speaker.

    I think it is also worth mentioning that the verb "await" is more formal, as the OALD says.
    That's true.

    I will wait for you here = natural.
    I will await you here = formal and quite old-fashioned.
    Rover_KE, anhnha and AlexAD like this.
    Remember - correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing make posts much easier to read.
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