In English, why is it "I look forward to hearing from you" and not "I look forward to hear from you?" . Is the "hearing" part of the sentence a gerund?
2007-12-11 02:26:53 · 6 answers · asked by attack_of_the_5ft_girl 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Yes, it IS a gerund, and no, it ISN'T present progressive and it ISN'T some crazy English irregularity.
The 'to' in 'look forward to' is a prepostion, as you can see if you put a noun after it 'I'm looking forward to Christmas'.
One of the 100% predictable rules of English is that a verb after a preposition becomes a gerund. 'My eyes are tired WITH readING so long' 'You can lose weight BY dietING'
Contrast I look forward to hearing from you' with 'I want to hear from you'. The 'to' here is forming the infinitive with 'want', it is not a preposition, so there is no gerund.
2007-12-11 05:13:17 · answer #1 · answered by vilgessuola 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Nope, well it is a gerund, but it's future progressive tense.
You'll come across a lot of those in English.
I'm going - Me voy
I'm having - Yo tengo
It's just a projection of what you'll be doing soon in the future.
I teach English as a Foreign Language, and I didn't say it was present progressive, it's future progressive, which makes a HUGE difference.
2007-12-11 10:39:12 · answer #2 · answered by christiekpoe 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is one of those things that in my opinion we learn from hearing what other people say and what sounds right to us. Some people could say, "I look forward to hear from you," but to me that sounds funny. I would say "hearing" just because it sounds better. Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you why it sounds better.
2007-12-11 10:41:57 · answer #3 · answered by MSL_007 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are some unusual English usage.This is just one of those.This isn't gerund.
I saw a "sleeping"lion .This "sleeping" is gerund.
2007-12-11 10:37:09 · answer #4 · answered by bikashroy9 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
its because "i look forward to hearing from you" is a certain part of speech. you could say "i hope to hear from you" or "i cant wait to hear from you".
they are just different parts of speech. like. would you say after you couldnt go to a party
"i couldnt go" or
"i wouldnt go" see they sound the same, but they are different parts of speech and one makes more sense than the other
2007-12-11 12:02:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
ur rite buddy
2007-12-11 10:57:12 · answer #6 · answered by Amit G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋