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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

What is the difference between waiting and awaiting?

0 Hello everyone, 02br
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00Do the words 'waiting' and 'awaiting' mean the same? 02br
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00In what context is each word used? 02br
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00Thank you for your input 050010id1
  

Top answer

0 to me they both mean the same 02br 00nevertheless, in daily life, people use mostly wait rather than await 0-

  • 0 to me they both mean the same 02br 00nevertheless, in daily life, people use mostly wait rather than await 0-
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25 Answers
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0 to me they both mean the same 02br
00nevertheless, in daily life, people use mostly wait rather than await 0-
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0 The meanings overlapse, but the construction's different: 02br
00you await something 02br
00you wait FOR something 0-
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0 Hi Pieanne; 02br
00What do you prefer to use in following condition: If a medical test is sent and reports are not yet available to start/ stop the treatment? 02br
00'' The tests have been sent but the reports are awaited/ waited'' 02br
00I think it is preferable to use awaited; can we use waited? if not why? 02br
00With best regards. 0-
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0 I'm not too familiar with medical English... 02br
00I'd say: "we are still waiting for the reports", "the reports aren't available yet", "we haven't been sent the reports yet"... 0-
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0 01blockquote
00The tests have been sent but the reports are awaited12blockquote
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00That sounds odd to me. 02br
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00I sometimes see "awaiting the reports", but never "reports are awaited". 02br
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00Perhaps someone else has a different opinion. 0-
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0 Neither "The reports are waited" or "The reports are awaited" is correct. 02br
00"to wait" is not transitive and therefore cannot be used in the passive voice. 02br
00While transitive, "to await" is not normally used in the passive voice. 02br
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00We await your decision. 02br
00??? Your decision is awaited (by us). 02br
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0 My understanding is that normally sentences using stative verbs such as lack, resemble, and await cannot be changed to the passive. 0-
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0 One of the rules I have learned about English passive constructs of "X (=subject) be done by Y (=agent)" is that the state of X should be subject to some change (or affected) due to Y's doing. So "X is awaited by Y" is out of the rule. Probably we couldn't say "X is waited by Y" also. 02br
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00paco 0-
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0 In this respect, Pieanne, medical English is subject to the same rules. It is not uncommon to say "We are awaiting the results", "results are awaited" but "we are still waiting for the results" is probably the most commonly used. 0-
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0 Just to clarify: as well as 'wait for' – 02br
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001. I'm still 01b00waiting for02b00 the report = I'm still 01b00awaiting02b00 the report 02br
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00there's also the simple non-phrasal use of 'wait': 02br
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002. "Where's MrP?" "He's waiting outside." 02br
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