# Await vs. Wait?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/await-vs-wait/776753>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 9, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/await-vs-wait/776753 "2017-01-09T20:06:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/await-vs-wait/776753/1 "2017-01-09T20:06:11Z")

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I have Googled this with inconclusive results. If I want to say “He left town wondering what adventures await.” Is that correct grammar? One source says “await” requires an object and the object is never a person. In this example, the very last word (not shown) would be [him], but that is understood. It sounds right vs. “He left town wondering what adventures wait for him.” The latter seems awkward. I need a ruling from the grammar gurus!

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**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/await-vs-wait/776753/2 "2017-01-10T00:50:52Z")

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Well, you have your tenses wrong for a start. If he left town, that’s a past action, and therefore he was wondering what advantures **awaited** him, or **waited** for him.

But _awaited_ or _waited_? Either will work. The OED notes a number of intransitive senses for “await”, but they are all considered obsolete or archaic. Unless you’re striving for a deliberately archaic tone, therefore, if you choose _await_ you need an object. I don’t see any reason why the object can’t be a person (". . . what adventures awaited him") and in fact the relevant sense is defined in the OED as “to wait for a coming event _ **or person** _”, so clearly the object can be a person.

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**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/await-vs-wait/776753/3 "2017-01-10T01:36:25Z")

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Await means to wait for.

I await Susie. I wait for Susie.

“…wondering what adventures await him.” would be better.