Esperar covers three everyday English verbs: “wait,” “hope,” and “expect.” Its conjugation is fully regular, but its syntax is not interchangeable across those meanings: Catalan normally waits for a person or thing with a direct object, can frame a hoped-for event with a finite clause, and uses esperar-se in the lexical meanings “wait/stay put” and “expect.”
English speakers therefore gain more from learning espero – esperava – esperà – esperaré – esperi – esperés – esperat together with the complement patterns than from memorizing isolated translations. There is no irregular stem, no incoative extension, and no defective part of the paradigm; it follows the regular first-conjugation pattern.
Nonfinite forms
| Form | Catalan | English guide |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | esperar | to wait; hope; expect |
| Perfect infinitive | haver esperat | to have waited/hoped/expected |
| Gerund | esperant | waiting; hoping |
| Perfect gerund | havent esperat | having waited |
| Participle | esperat; esperada, esperats, esperades | waited for; expected |
Compound tenses use haver and normally keep esperat invariable: hem esperat les notícies. The agreeing forms are adjectival or passive/resultative: una resposta molt esperada. Pronominal compound forms also use haver: m'he esperat; no m'ho havia esperat.
Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | espero | esperes | espera | esperem | espereu | esperen |
| Imperfect | esperava | esperaves | esperava | esperàvem | esperàveu | esperaven |
| Periphrastic past | vaig esperar | vas esperar | va esperar | vam esperar | vau esperar | van esperar |
| Simple past | esperí | esperares | esperà | esperàrem | esperàreu | esperaren |
| Future | esperaré | esperaràs | esperarà | esperarem | esperareu | esperaran |
| Conditional | esperaria | esperaries | esperaria | esperaríem | esperaríeu | esperarien |
The stress pattern is the regular first-conjugation pattern. Present espero has no written accent; imperfect esperàvem, esperàveu and future esperaré require theirs. Everyday completed narration normally uses the periphrastic past. The synthetic past is chiefly (formal/literary) in Central Catalan, although it remains alive in speech in some areas (regional).
Espero la Joana davant del teatre; ha dit que arribarà cap a les vuit.
I'm waiting for Joana in front of the theater; she said she'll arrive around eight.
Quan treballava al torn de nit, esperava l'autobús en aquest mateix banc.
When I worked the night shift, I used to wait for the bus on this very bench.
Ahir ens vam esperar gairebé una hora perquè el tren duia retard.
Yesterday we waited nearly an hour because the train was delayed.
T'esperaré a la sortida principal, al costat de la llibreria.
I'll wait for you at the main exit, next to the bookshop.
Compound tenses and subjunctive
| Indicative tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | he esperat | has esperat | ha esperat | hem esperat | heu esperat | han esperat |
| Pluperfect | havia esperat | havies esperat | havia esperat | havíem esperat | havíeu esperat | havien esperat |
| Past anterior | haguí esperat | hagueres esperat | hagué esperat | haguérem esperat | haguéreu esperat | hagueren esperat |
| Future perfect | hauré esperat | hauràs esperat | haurà esperat | haurem esperat | haureu esperat | hauran esperat |
| Conditional perfect | hauria esperat | hauries esperat | hauria esperat | hauríem esperat | hauríeu esperat | haurien esperat |
| Subjunctive tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | esperi | esperis | esperi | esperem | espereu | esperin |
| Imperfect | esperés | esperessis | esperés | esperéssim | esperéssiu | esperessin |
| Present perfect | hagi esperat | hagis esperat | hagi esperat | hàgim esperat | hàgiu esperat | hagin esperat |
| Pluperfect | hagués esperat | haguessis esperat | hagués esperat | haguéssim esperat | haguéssiu esperat | haguessin esperat |
The identical pairs esperem/espereu can be indicative or subjunctive; the clause supplies the mood. With esperar que, Catalan allows a meaningful contrast. An indicative presents the outcome as an expectation or confidence (Espero que vindrà), while a subjunctive foregrounds a wish or desired outcome (Espero que vingui). Actual usage overlaps, but the contrast is not random and should not be reduced to “esperar que always takes the subjunctive.”
Espero que el paquet arribarà abans de divendres, tal com promet el seguiment.
I expect the parcel will arrive before Friday, as the tracking information promises.
Espero que la teva mare es recuperi ben aviat.
I hope your mother gets well very soon.
No m'esperava que haguessin canviat l'hora de la reunió sense avisar-nos.
I didn't expect them to have changed the meeting time without warning us.
Three less frequent periphrastic rows complete the contemporary reference. The two subjunctive rows have restricted (regional/formal) distribution; ordinary general usage prefers esperés and hagués esperat.
| Periphrastic tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative past anterior | vaig haver esperat | vas haver esperat | va haver esperat | vam haver esperat | vau haver esperat | van haver esperat |
| Subjunctive past | vagi esperar | vagis esperar | vagi esperar | vàgim esperar | vàgiu esperar | vagin esperar |
| Subjunctive past anterior | vagi haver esperat | vagis haver esperat | vagi haver esperat | vàgim haver esperat | vàgiu haver esperat | vagin haver esperat |
Imperative and weak pronouns
| Addressee | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | espera | no esperis |
| vostè | esperi | no esperi |
| nosaltres | esperem | no esperem |
| vosaltres | espereu | no espereu |
| vostès | esperin | no esperin |
Affirmative commands attach pronouns (espera'm, espera't, espereu-vos); negative commands place them before the verb (no m'esperis, no t'esperis, no us espereu). Plain esperar algú selects that person as the direct object, so T'espero means “I'm waiting for you.” In esperar-se, by contrast, the reflexive pronoun belongs to the meaning “wait/stay.” In esperar-s'ho, neuter ho represents the expected situation.
—Marxem ja? —Espera't dos minuts, que acabo d'enviar aquest correu.
—Are we leaving now? —Wait two minutes; I'm just finishing sending this email.
No m'esperis per sopar, perquè avui plegaré tard.
Don't wait for me for dinner, because I'll finish work late today.
La notícia l'ha deixada parada, però en el fons ja se l'esperava.
The news stunned her, but deep down she was already expecting it.
Complements and high-frequency constructions
For the ordinary “wait for” meaning, the awaited person or thing is a direct object: esperar el tren, esperar una resposta, esperar els convidats. English inserts “for,” but standard Catalan does not require a translated per. A location is separate: esperar algú a l'estació. The collocation fer esperar means “keep someone waiting,” and no poder esperar means that delay is impossible.
For hopes and expectations, esperar + infinitive normally keeps the same understood subject: Espero acabar aviat. A finite clause allows its own subject: Espero que acabeu aviat. The fixed expression esperar un fill/una criatura means “be expecting a child.” (Formal/literary) esperar en algú/en Déu means placing one's trust in someone, not physically waiting.
Fa tres setmanes que esperem una resposta de l'ajuntament.
We've been waiting three weeks for an answer from the town council.
La directora espera tancar l'acord abans que s'acabi el trimestre.
The director hopes to close the agreement before the term ends.
No facis esperar els clients al carrer si ja ha començat a ploure.
Don't keep the customers waiting outside if it has already started raining.
(Regional: Valencian) espere is the standard first-person present, alongside a corresponding -e subjunctive system; (regional: Balearic) zero-ending esper and characteristic plural forms occur. These are coherent regional paradigms. The Central baseline espero/esperi is not a claim that the regional forms are nonstandard.
Common Mistakes
❌ Espero per l'autobús des de fa mitja hora.
Incorrect in the standard direct-object construction—English ‘wait for’ does not force per after esperar.
✅ Espero l'autobús des de fa mitja hora.
I've been waiting for the bus for half an hour.
❌ Jo espereixo que tot vagi bé.
Incorrect—esperar is first-conjugation and never takes the incoative extension -eix-.
✅ Jo espero que tot vagi bé.
I hope everything goes well.
❌ No espera't aquí tot sol.
Incorrect—negative commands put the pronoun before a subjunctive form.
✅ No t'esperis aquí tot sol.
Don't wait here on your own.
❌ No esperava pas una reacció així, però ja esperava.
Incorrect for ‘I expected it’—lexical esperar-s'ho requires both se and the neuter object ho.
✅ No m'esperava pas una reacció així, però ja me l'esperava una mica.
I certainly wasn't expecting a reaction like that, though I did half expect it.
❌ Espero a que arribin els altres abans d'obrir.
Incorrect governed preposition—esperar que takes no introductory a in standard Catalan.
✅ Espero que arribin els altres abans d'obrir.
I'm waiting for the others to arrive before opening.
Key Takeaways
Esperar is regular throughout and forms compounds with haver. Direct-object esperar means “wait for”; esperar-se means “wait/stay,” and esperar-s'ho means “expect it.” With esperar que, indicative expectation and subjunctive hope form a real semantic contrast. Pronouns attach to affirmative commands but precede negative ones.
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