Espera

[DailyWord]

This is a discussion thread for the Daily Spanish Word (http://daily.tomisimo.org/) for January 18, 2009

espera - feminine noun (la) - wait, waiting, delay, period of waiting, patience, respite. Look up espera in the dictionary (http://www.tomisimo.org/dictionary/spanish_english/espera)

Estoy a la espera de una carta importante.
I'm expecting an important letter.

[laepelba]

Please remember that I am very new to learning Spanish.

Will someone please explain to me the sentence structure for the example sentence. I do NOT understand the grammar of "Estoy a la espera..."

Thank you!

[Jessica]

What do you mean?

[laepelba]

Well, to me, as written, it looks like it says "I am to the expectation of..."

It doesn't sound like "espera" is being used as a noun in the given example. If I were trying to say something meaning the same, why wouldn't I say "Estoy esperando una carta importante." ??

So, yes, I'm looking for an explanation of the sentence structure...

[Jessica]

Hmm...maybe it's an error that the Robot made. I'm not sure either. Maybe it's like Tengo hambre, "Having hunger".
I'm not sure.

[María José]

Estoy a la espera means the same as estoy esperando. I wouldn't know how to explain the grammar for this sentence, but I think it's important when learning a language to accept that some things are just like that. Languages are full of mysteries that can't always be explained away... but maybe I'm being over-simplistic...:worried:

[tacuba]

Well, to me, as written, it looks like it says "I am to the expectation of..."

It doesn't sound like "espera" is being used as a noun in the given example. If I were trying to say something meaning the same, why wouldn't I say "Estoy esperando una carta importante." ??

So, yes, I'm looking for an explanation of the sentence structure...

I don't think you'll like my answer: It's just the way it is. You will run across this a lot while you're learning Spanish, sometimes there is just not a neat one-to-one translation between English and Spanish. Your sentence is fine grammatically, but you'll just have to accept that there are other, more colloquial ways to say the same thing.

Estamos de regreso We're back
Están de vacaciones They're on vacation
Estamos de mudanza We're in the process of moving
Estás de viaje You're on a trip

This probably didn't help much. Maybe someone else can explain it more thoroughly.

P.S. I just noticed María José said pretty much the same thing.

[laepelba]

Thank you María José and Tacuba. It's very helpful! I absolutely understand that languages are just plain different. I don't have an issue with that. I just wondered if there was a special "rule" or something for that sentence construction. Or is "Estoy a la espera..." the only time you write something like that.

If not, can you give me an example of another noun for which you would start with "Estoy a el/la [noun]..."? THANK YOU!!

[bmarquis124]

i would also like to know..

[Jessica]

That was helpful :)

[tacuba]

Here's some more from Larousse Gran Diccionario:

estamos de suerte we're in luck;
estar de mal humor to be in a (bad) mood;
¿has cambiado la llanta? - estoy en ello have you changed the tire? - I'm working on it, or, I'm doing it right now

[laepelba]

Thanks for those new examples! Does anyone have any examples of the use of "Estar a el/la [noun]...."?

[Jessica]

Thanks tacuba for the new examples :)

[tacuba]

For idiomatic uses of estar, check out this link:

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/Spanish/AS/ESTAR/1.htm

[laepelba]

Excellent!! Thank you!!!!!!

[poli]

I just have one question about estoy a la espera.
Could you use the term to mean I'm on hold?

[sosia]

"estoy a la espera" it's "I'm waiting for something"
-Estoy a la espera de una llamada
-Estoy a al espera de que salgan los resultados
-Estoy esperando un taxi.
I'm not sure what "I'm on hold" means. To me it sounds as you're waiting in the phone, and that's "estoy esperando contestación" or "estoy a la espera de que alguien responda/se ponga"

Saludos :D

[poli]

Bueno, un ejemplo de being on hold es: Llamo el médico para conseguir resultados y la secretaria está ocupada con una otra llamado dice "espere". Puedo pasar unos momentos (o minutos:rolleyes::impatient:) oyendo música hasta la secretaria está lista contestar. Tambien se puede
usar being on hold más figuradamente. ejemplo: I applied for that job but
they have me on hold. I hope they get back to me.

So can you say estoy en la espera when you are put on hold in a phone
conversation? If not, what would be the best term?

[CrOtALiTo]

Yes, Poli you can say I'm hold in the telephone.

I'm waiting to my wife that got out of the supermarket.

I want figure these examples, I hope to each example is well said, or wrote.


Other attempt.

I'm hold on to do a maintenance to my car here in this mechanic taller.

[poli]

Yes, Poli you can say I'm hold in the telephone.
Entonces, el mejor modo de decir I'm on hold (en una llamada telefónica )es: Estoy en la espera. ¿Estoy en lo cierto?
I'm waiting for wife to get out of the supermarket.

I want to see if these examples are well said, or written.


Another attempt.

I'm hold on to do a maintenance to my car here in this mechanic taller.No este frase es incorrecto. Te voy a darte un ejemplo semejante en que se puede usar put on hold fuguradamente: I need maintenence on my car
but my mechanic has got me on hold. He said he's very busy, so I will have to wait to get service.
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I hope this helps.