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  1. I expect you to be my friend.
  2. I expect that you’ll be my friend.

I see the only difference is that “you” is an object in sentence 1 and that-clause is an object in sentence 2.

In this situation, I want to know how objects distinguish two sentences.

What is the semantic function of objects?

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These sentences have similar meaning but evoke different nuances to me...

"I expect you to be my friend" this sounds like a demand, a harsh expectation out of the other person. You might say this in an argument.

"I expect that you’ll be my friend" this feels more like a hopeful expectation. This kind of structure is more common in sentences like "I hope that you'll be my friend".

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