We've been expecting you.
    Expect是‘期待’的意思，We've been expecting you.是‘我們期待你出現(xiàn)’，例如你在餐廳訂了位，到達(dá)時(shí)侍應(yīng)會(huì)向你說：We've been expecting you.(我們?cè)诘却銇砼R)。有時(shí)候，這句話也可帶點(diǎn)諷刺性，例如你約了朋友，但他遲了很久，你可說We've been expecting you. Expect / expecting. 是期待某些事發(fā)生，但發(fā)生的可能性是不知道的，例如：I expect you are angry with me, because I ate your rabbit.(我期望你會(huì)生氣，因?yàn)槲野涯愕耐米映缘?，但對(duì)方不一定會(huì)生氣，又例如：I'm expecting a lot of presents on my birthday.(我期待收到很多生日禮物)，但收到多少還是未知之?dāng)?shù)。許多父母都‘望子成龍，望女成鳳’，英文可以說：We are expecting great things from her.(我們期望她長(zhǎng)大后會(huì)有成就)。
    對(duì)話
    A: We've been expecting you all night. Where have you been?
    B: Oh, I'm really sorry. I got lost.
    A: You must be kidding. You've been here over a hundred times.
    B: Yes, but each time I took a taxi. This time I drove here myself.
    甲：我們等待你整晚，你去了哪里?
    乙：噢，真對(duì)不起，我迷路了。
    甲：你一定在開玩笑，你已來過這兒超過一百次。
    乙：對(duì)呀，但我每次都是坐出租車來，這次是我自己開車來。
    說等候某人或某事物來臨，英文常用expect(期待)一字，而且多用進(jìn)行時(shí)式(continuous tense)，例如：(1) I'm expecting visitors tomorrow.(明天我會(huì)有客人來訪)。(2) I'm expecting a letter from my mother.(我在等待母親寄來的一封信)。要說期待某人隨時(shí)來臨，英文是I'm expecting him / her any minute。
    有時(shí)，你會(huì)聽到My wife is expecting. 這樣的話。那也是期待有人降臨，但降臨的是嬰兒。換言之，‘我妻子懷孕了’。這個(gè)expecting之后可加a baby兩字，例如：My wife is expecting a baby; I have to make some preparations. (我妻子懷孕了，我得準(zhǔn)備一下)。An expectant mother就是‘孕婦’，an expectant則是‘快為人父者’。
    Expect一字的用法，還有一點(diǎn)特別值得注意。請(qǐng)比較以下兩句：(1)I expect (that) you will go; (2)I expect you to go。這兩句意思有分別嗎? 按expect之后用 ‘that +子句(clause)’，是‘想’或‘認(rèn)為’的意思，例如：I expect (that) it will rain soon.(我想，快要下雨了)。Expect之后用‘受詞 (object) + to +原形動(dòng)詞 (infinitive)’，則是‘要某人做某事’或‘某人有責(zé)任做某事’的意思，例如：I expect you to clean the room.　(我要你清潔這個(gè)房間)。所以I expect you will go. 和I expect you to go. 不同，一是說‘我想，你會(huì)去’，一是說‘我要你去’