look forward to

Meanings

1. 1phrasephrasal verb

   To feel happy and excited about something that is going to happen soon.

   Grammar: Followed by a noun or an -ing form, never a bare infinitive: look forward to meeting you.

   Patterns

   • look forward to something
   • look forward to doing something

   I look forward to seeing you next week.

   The kids are looking forward to the school trip.

   We look forward to hearing from you soon.

2. 2phrasephrasal verbformal

   Used in formal letters and emails to say you hope for a response or meeting.

   Grammar: Common in closing lines: I look forward to your reply.

   Patterns

   • look forward to your reply

   I look forward to your reply.

   We look forward to working with you.

   She looked forward to the opportunity to discuss the plan.

Word forms

Common combinations

really look forward to

I really look forward to the weekend.

eagerly look forward to

We eagerly look forward to the festival.

look forward to seeing

I look forward to seeing your new house.

look forward to meeting

We look forward to meeting your family.

something to look forward to

A holiday gives you something to look forward to.

Synonyms and how they differ

anticipate

Anticipate is more formal and can also mean expect, with or without pleasure, whereas look forward to always suggests happy expectation.

await

Await means wait for and is more formal; it does not say you are excited.

expect

Expect only says you think something will happen, with no feeling of pleasure.

relish

Relish suggests great enjoyment, often of something already happening or coming, and is stronger than look forward to.

Opposites

Word family

forward adverb

toward the front or future

forward-looking adjective

planning for the future

anticipation noun

excited expectation

Commonly confused: look forward to or look forward?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “look forward to”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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