Jose Carillo's English Forum

Open Forum => Students’ Sounding Board => Topic started by: Nathan_Yell on October 24, 2011, 04:54:08 PM

Title: Expected from/ expected of
Post by: Nathan_Yell on October 24, 2011, 04:54:08 PM

Dear Mr. Carillo,

I would like to know how "expected from" and "expected of" are used specifically. What is the difference, for example, of saying "This is expected from the manager" to "This is expected of the manager"?

Thank you!

Title: Re: Expected from/ expected of
Post by: Joe Carillo on October 24, 2011, 09:14:03 PM

The difference between “expected from” and “expected of” is the nature of the object being expected. “Expected from” means that something, whether material or nonmaterial, is being anticipated to come from someone and that there will be an actual transfer of that something from the source to the one expecting it, as in “This bonus is expected from the manager” and “This negative response is expected from the suspended sales clerk.” On the other hand, “expected of” means believing that someone is capable of living up to or adopting some standard of performance, behavior, or way of thinking, as in “This level of performance is expected of anyone hired for this executive position” and “Taking its corporate social responsibility seriously is something we would expect of a company that big.” In this case, since the expected object is invariably an intangible one, there is no expectation of that object being actually transferred to the one expecting it. The knowledge that the expectation is met is enough.