"Predict and Expect" As was mentioned, one distinguishing feature is whether it is an "informed guess" or an "opinion". Another aspect I'd like to mention is the involvement or interest of the speaker in what's talked about. "expect" implies something that one seriously thinks will happen, which is of interest to him - it may affect him. "predict" on the other hand sounds like the speaker is less involved with the outcome, as if observing it as an outsider. Examples: - Don't expect me to be your friend. (serious - whether I'm your friend or not is important to "you") - I predict they will not last long. (not as serious - sounds like there isn't much vested interest) Here's interesting lines from a song ("Desperadoes Under The Eaves" by Warren Zevon): "And if California slides into the ocean Like the mystics and statistics say it will I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill" He is being sarcastic while talking about an hypothetical, improbable event, so "predict" is better.

موحباً! From the Merriam-Webster's English Learner's Dictionary: http://www.learnersdictionary.com/ Predict: to say that (something) will or might happen in the future -All the local forecasters are predicting rain for this afternoon. -She claims that she can predict future events. -It's hard to predict how the election will turn out. Expect: to think that something will probably or certainly happen -We expect (that) the economy will improve. = We expect the economy to improve. -As expected, the election was very close. -Costs have been higher than expected. = Costs have been higher than they were expected to be. Thinking about answering your question I see how this is very confusing. The difference is in the usage. So, the "The weatherman predicts there will be rain" is correct, but "The weatherman expects there will be rain" is not. So "predicts" implies that you have a science or skill set specific to the situation that means you are probably correct, where as "expects" implies more of an opinion. Expect can also be used to talk about something you believe should happen. So, if you are a teacher, you can tell your student: "I expect you to turn in your homework tomorrow" or "My expectation is that you will turn in your homework tomorrow". Predict: you can say "I predict it will rain tomorrow" or "my prediction is it will rain tomorrow". Or, if a big event is going on downtown, and you have to drive downtown tomorrow, maybe you would say "I predict traffic will be bad tomorrow". Other acceptable usages in the same situation "I think traffic will be bad tomorrow" or even "I bet traffic will be bad tomorrow". OK, to add some confusion, you could also say here "I expect traffic will be bad tomorrow". Of all these usages I would probably say (this is colloquial speech) "I bet traffic will be bad tomorrow". Good discussion of this topic at this page: http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/predict-expect-anticipate.2010391/ Hope this helps!