The expression ⌜expected x⌝ and other phrases in which “expected” appears to function like an adjective are potentially misleading. Except if x is real and in the past, “expected” is not a predicate, but an operator similar to the doxastic belief operator and an expected x is not an x. Instead, a phrase involving some ⌜expected x⌝ (typically) specifies an expectation about x, and expectations imply agents having those expectations. This analysis matters for moral philosophy, in which expected consequences — which, by implication, are not (a kind of) consequences — play an important role.

Keywords: expectations, doxastic logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics, consequentialism, expected consequences.