Look forward (to)
The anticipation phrasal verb: the professional way to say you're glad something's coming. Why “to” is a preposition (so it takes -ing), simple vs continuous register, the ladder from look forward to up to be dying to, partner vs client tone, and a quiz.
Overview
Look forward to is the anticipation phrasal verb — the standard way to say you're pleased something is coming. It's anticipation you welcome: not neutral prediction (expect), not dread (brace for). And despite the to, there's no infinitive here — that's the trap below.
- Anticipate with pleasure → await eagerly · be glad about · relish
- Warm sign-off (fixed formula) → hope to hear · hope to see · be in touch
- Look ahead (no
to) → going forward · plan ahead · take the long view
The key insight
The verb is look + the adverb forward. What follows is a prepositional phrase: to points at the thing ahead of you, exactly like to Friday or to the weekend. It is not the to of to run, to eat.
Prepositions take noun phrases. English turns a verb into a noun phrase with -ing. So: to hearing, to meeting, to shipping.
The test: if you can replace it with to it, it's a preposition. "I look forward to it." ✅ — you'd never say "I want to it." That's how you know.
Parts of speech
Verb only. There is no noun form — no "a look-forward". Don't invent one.
The noun idea is carried by anticipation ("There's real anticipation around the launch"), or you reuse the verb itself: "something to look forward to." That last phrase is the closest English gets to a noun here, and it's extremely common. The only adjectival form is the heavy hyphenated much-looked-forward-to, which is rare and best avoided in writing.
As a verb — "look forward to"
To feel pleased about something that's coming. Followed by to + noun or -ing.
- "Looking forward to Friday — first weekend off in a month."
- "I look forward to your feedback."
- "We're really looking forward to the kickoff."
- "Honestly? Not looking forward to that migration."
- "She's looking forward to going freelance."
Always “to” + noun or “to” + -ing. Never to + base verb.
Keep it forward, never forwards, in this idiom.
Anticipate with pleasure
= await eagerly · be glad about · relish
- "I'm looking forward to the retro." (genuine pleasure)
- "Looking forward to seeing the new design." (warm, specific)
- "Not looking forward to Monday." (negated — mild dread)
Warm sign-off
= hope to hear · hope to see · be in touch
- "Looking forward to hearing from you." (standard email close)
- "I look forward to working with you." (contract register)
- "Looking forward to it!" (short, friendly reply)
Look ahead
= going forward · plan ahead · take the long view
Drop the to and you get a different, business-flavoured sense: considering the future.
- "Looking forward, we'll need two more engineers." (framing what's next)
- "Let's look forward, not back." (stop dwelling)
- "Looking forward six months, the roadmap changes." (time horizon)
Grammar
- ❌ "I look forward to hear from you." → ✅ "I look forward to hearing from you."
- ❌ "I look forward to meet you." → ✅ "I look forward to meeting you."
- ❌ "I'm looking forward for it." → ✅ "I'm looking forward to it."
Simple vs continuous
Both are correct — they differ in warmth.
- "I look forward to…" — cooler, more formal. Contracts, cover letters, first contact.
- "I'm looking forward to…" — warmer, more human. Most email, and nearly all speech.
The "to it" test
When the thing is already known, replace it with a pronoun: "Looking forward to it." · "I look forward to that." This is the fastest proof that to is a preposition — and the most common way native speakers actually end a message.
Negatives & questions
- "I'm not looking forward to it." (the natural negative)
- "Aren't you looking forward to it?"
- "Anything you're looking forward to?"
Negate the continuous, not the simple. "I don't look forward to it" is grammatical but sounds stiff and faintly hostile.
look forward vs its neighbors
- look forward to — polite professional baseline. "Looking forward to the call."
- can't wait — warm, informal, high energy. "Can't wait to ship this."
- be excited about — enthusiasm you're naming out loud. "I'm excited about the rewrite."
- be keen to — eager and willing; British. "I'm keen to start Monday."
- be dying to — hyperbolic, very informal. "I'm dying to see the numbers."
- anticipate — formal, cool, often emotionless. "We anticipate a Q3 launch."
"Look forward to" = you're glad it's coming; "anticipate" = you expect it, feelings not included.
Look forward takes to + -ing. Can't wait takes to + base verb: "Can't wait to ship." ✅ Don't cross them over.
Working life
- "Looking forward to the kickoff call on Monday."
- "I look forward to reviewing your feedback." (formal, email close)
- "Not looking forward to that migration, honestly." (negative form)
- "Looking forward to seeing how the demo lands." (to + -ing)
- "We're all looking forward to shipping this one."
- "Something to look forward to after this sprint." (noun-ish use)
Life with your partner
- "I've been looking forward to this all week."
- "Looking forward to having you back home."
- "Are you looking forward to the trip?"
- "It's the only thing I'm looking forward to today."
- "Something we can both look forward to."
- "Honestly? Looking forward to doing nothing together."
"I look forward to seeing you" sounds like a business email. With a partner, use "I'm looking forward to…" or "can't wait." The simple present is for contracts; the continuous is for people.
Everyday life
- Travel: "Looking forward to Lisbon — three days, no laptop."
- Gym: "Not looking forward to leg day."
- Friends: "Looking forward to seeing you Saturday."
- Moving: "Not looking forward to packing the kitchen."
- Weekend: "Looking forward to a weekend with zero plans."
Client phrases to steal
- "Looking forward to hearing your thoughts." (invites feedback without demanding it)
- "I look forward to working with you."
- "Looking forward to seeing this live."
- "Looking forward to catching up Thursday — I'll send an agenda." (warm close, still sets structure)
- "Looking forward to it!"
The full work cycle in phrasal verbs
- kick off the project
- figure out what's actually needed
- sort out the blockers
- follow up when the client goes quiet
- get back to them with answers
- catch up on what you missed
- wrap up the sprint
- look forward to the next one
Register & mnemonic
Neutral leaning formal. Safe in any email, warm without being familiar. Never slang, never rude — which is why it's the default professional sign-off in English. The continuous form pulls it warmer; the simple present pushes it cooler.
- Formal synonym: anticipate, await
- Casual synonym: can't wait
🔭 A telescope aimed forward at a date on the calendar. You're pointing at something ahead — and a pointer needs the preposition to, so what follows must be a thing: to Friday, to hearing.
Practice
1.I look forward ___ from you soon.
2.Looking forward ___ — thanks for setting it up.
3.Honestly, ___ to see you tonight.
4.We look forward ___ from the whole team.
5.___ for this trip — two weeks, no laptop.
- to hearing —
tois a preposition, so-ing; never to hear. - to it — the pronoun form, for something already known.
- can't wait — casual register for a partner; takes
to+ base verb. - to hearing — same rule as 1; we look forward to keeps it formal.
- can't wait — informal and high-energy, where look forward to would sound cold.