• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Articles & lessons
    • Grammar & vocabulary lessons
    • IELTS preparation
    • British culture
    • All articles and lessons
  • About
  • Contact
Crown Academy of English

English lessons and resources




You are here: Home / English lessons / Meaning of “look forward to” in English

Meaning of “look forward to” in English

4th February 2019 by Andrew

“look forward to” is a very common expression in English but what does it mean exactly?

Meaning:
To think about something in the future with pleasure.
To be pleased or excited that something is going to happen.

Example:

I’m looking forward to the concert.


woman dreaming

This means that I am excited about the concert that is taking place at some time in the future. I am thinking about it positively and with pleasure.

Let’s look at the form and grammar rules with some more examples.

Form

There are 3 common structures:

Structure 1 – with a noun phrase

Form:
look forward to + noun phrase

Examples:

Jane is looking forward to her birthday.

birthday celebration

I’m looking forward to the weekend.
Mark is looking forward to the party.

Structure 2 – with a gerund

Form:
look forward to + gerund (ING form of verb)

A gerund is the ING form of a verb. It is a verb acting as a noun.

Examples:

Mark is looking forward to buying a house. correct

dreaming of house
by graur codrin | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m looking forward to going to London. correct
I’m looking forward to meeting you. correct

We do not use the  base form of the verb:

I’m looking forward to go to London. wrong
Mark is looking forward to buy a house. wrong
I’m looking forward to meet you. wrong

Structure 3 – a verb with a different subject

If the second verb has a different subject, we use the object pronoun. We do not use the subject pronoun.

Form:
look forward to + object pronoun + gerund

Example:

I’m looking forward to him visiting me next week. correct
Meaning: Mark is visiting me next week. I’m excited about it.

Remember, we do not use the subject pronoun as the subject of the second verb:
I’m looking forward to he visiting me next week. wrong

Common in written English

“look forward to” is very common in written English, particularly in business English.

We often use it at the end of a letter or email. In this context, the meaning is not that we are excited about something. It’s a polite way of asking someone to do something. It is a way of telling someone that we are expecting them to do something for us.

We use the present simple form.

Examples:

signing a contract
We look forward to receiving the contract.
(A polite way of saying “Send us the contract.”)

I look forward to your reply.
(A polite way of saying “Make sure you reply to this message.”)

I look forward to hearing from you soon.
(Another polite way of saying “Make sure you reply to this message.”)

More English lessons

English lessons on our Youtube channel
Subject and object pronouns
The ING form of English verbs
English idioms and expressions about feeling sad
IELTS speaking advice

English video lesson

Filed Under: English lessons

More lessons

sleeping child

English idioms & expressions about sleep

This English lesson has 2 versions: 1) A video and 2) A written versionI recommend you to watch the video and then read the article … [Read More...] about English idioms & expressions about sleep

writing report

Irregular verbs in English

Before we look at the form of the irregular verbs, let's do a very quick revision of regular verbs: Form of regular verbs To form the past … [Read More...] about Irregular verbs in English

Girl wearing headphones

Difference between hear and listen

"hear" and "listen" are both verbs related to sounds. The meaning of both words is therefore related but different. It is important not to confuse the … [Read More...] about Difference between hear and listen

Man and boy

Comparative adjectives

Use of comparative adjectives Use 1 We use comparative adjectives to compare 2 or more things, people or places.We use "than" after the … [Read More...] about Comparative adjectives

grammar

Parts of speech – English grammar

In English grammar, there are 8 different types of words: NounsPronounsAdjectivesVerbsAdverbsConjunctionsPrepositionsInterjections The 8 types … [Read More...] about Parts of speech – English grammar

Primary Sidebar

Lessons

native english speaker

How to understand native English speakers

girl reading

How to improve your English vocabulary

peas on spoon

“a little” and “a few ” to describe quantity

doctor

The difference between practice and practise

Girl wearing headphones

Difference between hear and listen

handbag

compliment or complement





Footer

Follow us on social media

Crown Academy of English on YouTube Crown Academy of English on Twitter

Privacy policy

Privacy policy

Recent

  • 8 ways to say that something is FREE in English
  • English idioms and expressions related to CRIME
  • How to use either and neither – English lesson
  • Learn English vocabulary – Vegetables
  • English Idioms related to speed

Search