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look forward to和be looking forward to原來有差！



昨天在中翻英的作業翻一篇總統演講稿，講到「期待各位再次光臨」

我寫 We are looking forward to blabla
結果被老師改成 We look forward to
讓我覺得很困惑，沒有用be動詞有何不同？what’s the difference?

原來還真的不一樣！
查大部分中文的網路文章都只有寫說
用 be looking forward to 表示期待更強烈，很期待，
表示很期待各位再次光臨不是很好嗎？

其實 look forward to 是比較正式文書的用法，且暗示著期待對方接下來的動作。
而 be looking forward to 則是比較口語，像對朋友說話，且多半指期待未來將發生的某件事（party之類的）。所以在正式場合、商業文書中，應該用 look forward to 比較適合～！

不過因為現代語言越來越傾向淺白化，
所以be looking forward to也越來越常見。
只是可能還是不適合總統演說講吧…
像蔡英文說：「好想趕快看到你們來唷～v」XDD


>> ‘I’m looking forward to’ or ‘I look forward to’? <<

The distinction is subtle and mostly one of formality. ‘I look forward to’ is more formal, and typically the way you’d sign off in a business correspondence. It implies that you’re expecting the next action to come from the recipient of your letter or email. ‘I am looking forward to’ is less formal, and more likely to be the phrase of choice when speaking or writing to a friend. It implies you’re referring to a more definite upcoming event.

Having said that, it’s quite likely that the two phrases will become increasingly interchangeable. Or, more likely still, that ‘I’m looking forward to’ will be used more often — particularly in email, which tends to encourage a more informal tone.

# by Jill

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