Looking forward to hearING from you

Do you know which word is one of the most troublesome in English?  A hint: it is just a word with two, not four, letters.  ‘To’ is just a two-letter word, right?  Yet it is a word that causes lots of trouble in English, especially when you want to end your email or letter by asking someone to reply.  





You don't think so.  Alright, which one of the following is correct?

I am looking forward to hear from you.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.  

A. To Hear or To Hearing

When you write emails or letters, do you get confused with ‘to’? In other word, the big question is: to hear or to hearing.  Before you get the answer, you have to go back to the past. Look at the picture. Who is the one in the picture?  Your teacher?

B. Your Teacher Was Wrong?Did this happen to you? At a grammar lesson, your teacher told you a golden rule. What golden rule?  After ‘to’, don't add 'ing' to the verb (followed). So if this is correct, the answer will be 'I am looking forward to hear from you.'
Yet, the correct answer is: I am looking forward to hearing from you.    

So your teacher was wrong.  No, not exactly! 

The thing is: he or she just told you half of the story. And you are going to learn the other half now. 

C. What do you see?

The second half of the story is an experiment.  An experiment?  Don’t panic.  Well, it is a bit exaggerating.  But what you need to do is just to look forward.  Yes, just look forward.  What do you see?

Correct me if I am wrong.  You see a computer, a tablet or a smart phone, right? And what do a computer and a smart phone have in common?  They are all English?  Well, no time for kidding.  They are all things, or if you like, nouns.

So what is my point?  Or do I have one?  
The point is: When you look forward, you see something, right?  And that something is a noun. When you link the two together, you need the a word, right?

Look forward     ______

A smart phone

What word do you need?  A word with two letters: 

                                                          to


So it becomes: Look forward TO a smart phone.   That is, it is ‘impossible’ to write ‘Look forward a smart phone’







D. Smart Phone and To Hearing From You

But how does ‘a smart phone’ relate to ‘hearing from you’?  Both (a smart phone and hearing) are nouns.  What? ‘Hearing’ is a noun?  


Yes, ‘hearing’ can work as a noun. How?  Read the following two sentences: 

I jog every day.

I do some jogging every day.

The word ‘jog’ is a verb but ‘jogging’ is a noun. In the sentence, jogging is something, some kind of activity, so it is a noun. Yes, you are right. Sometimes when you add ‘ing’ to a verb, it becomes a noun.

Looking forward to	+	a thing (a noun)
Hear     +     ing	=	a thing (a noun)

E. So the Feel Good tips are:

You may end your email with 'I am looking forward to hearing from you'.