I know that there have been other posts about properly translating the verb esperar, but I am still feeling unsatisfied with the answers. I came up with the following question that I think gets to the heart of the confusion.
How would you translate into Spanish the following sentences?
I don't expect him to wait for me but I hope he does.
I hope he doesn't wait for me but I expect him to.
On the other hand, how would you translate into English the title of my post?
I'm asking this not to be overly nit-picky, but because I often find myself in situations where I need to say something about expecting, waiting, or hoping, and feel like I could be badly misunderstood if I don't express it correctly. (I'm from New York and currently in Mexico working a new job I got down here ... so my Spanish skills are very important.)