INCORRECT: I expect that you WILL finish by 5pm INCORRECT: I expect you finish by 5 pm. CORRECT: I expect you to finish by 5pm. Yes, you need "to" here. INCORRECT: I expected you TO BE finished by 5pm. CORRECT: I expect that you'll finish the work by 5 pm. INCORRECT: we expect that our employer WILL pay us a reasonable salary. CORRECT: we expect our employer to pay us a reasonable salary. Yes, you also need "to" here INCORRECT: we expect our employer TO pay us. CORRECT: we expect to receive money from our employer. INCORRECT: we expect to receive money by our employer. I expect it to rain ------→ I don’t understand the construction of this sentence "It" is a little strange in this phrasing, but that is how you always say it. "to rain" is a verb and in English you need to say what is doing the raining. You aren't raining, you are expecting. Since what rains (the sky/clouds/weather) is vague, we just say "it" to make the grammar work. CORRECT: I expect that it will rain INCORRECT: I expect raining tonight. You could say "I expect it to rain tonight." or "I expect rain tonight." In "I expect rain tonight," rain is a noun, so it is something you can expect. If you want to say "to rain," something needs to rain, so you need "it." CORRECT: I expect to work until 9pm. INCORRECT: I expect working until 9pm. CORRECT: I expect to eat pasta tonight. (But I've never heard anyone say this, seems a bit strange. Usually you "plan to eat" or are "going to eat" pasta. Even if you are not cooking.) INCORRECT: I expect eating pasta tonight. INCORRECT: I expect a positive answer by her. CORRECT: I expect a positive answer from her.

I expect that you finish by 5pm - correct, but not common usage. I expect you finish by 5 pm. - incorrect. See the next sentence. I expect you to finish by 5pm. -----> is the preposition "to" fundamental? "To" is required, and this is perfect. In this case, 5 PM has not happened yet. Also, this sentence is more of a command, rather than an expectation. I expected you finished by 5pm. 5 PM has passed, but you need to add "to" and use the present tense of "finished." So: "I expected you to finish by 5 PM. I expect that you'll finish the work by 5 pm. Also good. In this sentence, the writer is confident that the work will be finished. we expect that our employer pay us a reasonable salary. Again, using "that" is not common usage. we expect our employer to pay us a reasonable salary. -----> is the preposition "to" fundamental? And yes, "to" is necessary. we expect our employer pay us. Add "to" before "pay" to make it correct. we expect to receive money from/by our employer. "From" should be used here. I expect it to rain ------→ I don’t understand the construction of this sentence. You can say, "I (subject) expect (verb) rain (noun/object). For your sentence: "I (subject) expect (verb) it (object: think of the sky - while not exactly true, it's a good way to visualize "it") to rain (infinitive verb). I expect that it will rain. correct I expect raining tonight. incorrect I expect to work until 9pm. correct I expect working until 9pm. incorrect I expect to eat pasta tonight. correct I expect eating pasta tonight. incorrect. I expect a positive answer from/by her. "From" is correct. A general note: Newspapers sometimes drop words like "to" so that a title will fit on the page. Also, it might be easier for you to read answers in the NOTEBOOK section. It allows teachers to highlight words, etc. Hope this helps. :-)