In Italian, there are two words that mean "to wait:" aspettare, which we use most of the time, and attendere, which means the same thing but is used primarily in formal situations and in particular contexts, such as on the phone.

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We've already had a lesson about the verb aspettare and its nuances. In this lesson, we will look at examples of the verb attendere, as well as the noun form l'attesa. Attendere is often a command using the infinitive of the verb. See this lesson about using the infinitive form of a verb to give a command.

Marinella? -Servizio di segreteria telefonica. Attendere, prego.

Marinella? -Answering service. Wait, please.

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You might also hear attenda in linea (hold the line), where the imperative form is used.

Both aspettare and attendere can be transitive (taking a direct object) or intransitive verbs. Note that in English, we use a preposition — "to wait for" while the two Italian verbs can be transitive with no preposition needed.

Aspetto il treno (I'm waiting for the train).

In the following example, aspettare could have been used in place of attendere. 

Come ogni volta, ad attenderlo c'è Peppino, l'amico di mille battaglie.

As always, there's Peppino waiting for him, his friend in a thousand battles.

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And when someone (or a machine) puts you on hold, you are in attesa (waiting).

E poi ci sarebbe un nuovo cliente in attesa.

And then there would be a new client waiting.

Caption 86, Provaci ancora prof! S3 EP2 Doppio imprevisto - Part 4

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When you are waiting for an appointment or for a train, you'll likely sit in la sala di attesa (the waiting room).

It might not seem so, but the adjective attendibile comes from the same root, attendere. It describes something worth considering.

No, c'è un'ipotesi più attendibile. -Sentiamo.

No, there's a more plausible theory. -Let's hear it.

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Aspettare has a related noun form: aspettativa. One specific meaning is "leave of absence," for example, from a job.

La preside mi ha detto che hai inoltrato la domanda di aspettativa al dipartimento.

The principal told me that you had forwarded the request for a leave of absence to the department.

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The same noun, primarily used in the plural, can mean "expectations." Here, we can connect it to the reflexive verb form aspettarsi (to expect). 

Il reso è una procedura per restituire un prodotto che non soddisfa le tue aspettative.

The return is a procedure for returning a product that does not meet your expectations.

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It's good to be familiar with both verbs! There may be more related words we haven't mentioned here so feel free to let us know if you come across any. 

Thanks for reading. You can write to us at [email protected].

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