We Will See You Again Soon

Some English expressions seem to sound natural and unproblematic when expressed by a native speaker.

But for some non-natives, these expressions could get a little awkward particularly when the individual meaning of words and how they relate to one another are dissected inappropriately.

One of these expressions is "looking forward to seeing you" whereby, for the most part, the trouble comes from the arrangement of the last three words.

Quit staying in that unholy, negative town, for our post today will keep all of your confusion at bay.

Is the phrase "looking forward to seeing you" grammatically correct?

Not only is "looking forward to seeing you" grammatically flawless, but it also depicts native-like fluency. "Looking forward to" is a phrasal-prepositional verb that requires a noun afterward to be grammatical. This is a common expression used to express excitement at an upcoming meeting.

Understanding the grammatical structure of  "looking forward to seeing you"

"Looking forward to seeing you" is the reduced version of "I am looking forward to seeing you" in which the subject and the auxiliary verb are omitted.

The subject "I" and the verb "am" are replaceable depending on the context and the intention of the language user.

More precisely, you can substitute "I" with other subject pronouns and nouns like "we," "they," "he," "she," "Anna," or "Simon."

Whereas , "are," "is," "has been," "have been" or "had been" may take the place of "am" according to the subject being used.

Indubitably , we can thereby deduce that "seeing" is not the verb in the statement, but it is rather the object of the preposition "to."

Meanwhile, "looking forward to" is what we refer to as a phrasal verb , a type of verb which is a combination of two or more words having a special meaning.

"To look forward to" means to expect or anticipate an upcoming event or activity which is used to convey a sense of excitement toward the recipient of the message.

To get rid of the confusion, if any , let's have a look at these parts in detail.

 "Looking forward to seeing you" vs. "Looking forward to see you"

Although "looking forward to see you" may not necessarily prompt any confusion nor misinformation, the statement does not follow the grammatical conventions of the natives.

Even my grammar checker tool choked at my usage of "to see" in the previous sentence, almost instantly alerting me to change the phrase upon typing.

"Looking forward to" is a phrasal-prepositional verb that is made up of three distinct lexemes acting as a unit to create a new meaning.

"To be used to," "to get accustomed to," and " to admit to" are also other lengthy phrasal verbs that often confuse non-native users of English.

So , in order to understand the grammatical make-up of the entire expression, we have to group the words accordingly.

"Seeing you," is meanwhile the complete prepositional object, meaning the noun that the preposition "to" is acting upon.

This phrase has to be treated separately to remove the obscurity.

Moreover, "seeing" is a noun that is masquerading as a verb, more particularly called a gerund; while "to see" is an infinitive phrase.

Even though both may function as a noun within a sentence, only gerunds can act as an object of a preposition.

All of these syntactical subtleties make "looking forward to seeing you" the most widely recognized and accepted grammatical structure in the realm of the English language.

Using the phrase "looking forward to seeing you"

The entire expression is used to inform another person or group of people that one is excited about an upcoming meeting or physical interaction.

Although using this verbiage in spoken conversations is possible, it is more common to use it in written correspondence, which is generally expected to be more formal.

Using this in more formal spoken discussions is also recommended, but reducing its formality is more appropriate in more casual ones.

We would notice "looking forward to seeing you" in e-mail writing as a closing statement as a way to convey politeness through language.

It is found in situations wherein a message sender wants to make the recipient feel welcomed and comfortable, such as a recruiter communicating to an applicant.

Example:

Let's just say you're a recruiting staff inviting an applicant who just passed the initial online screening for a vacant job position . Here's what you might write in your e-mail:

"We are pleased to hear that you are available for an interview here in the office next week. Please don't forget to bring printed copies of your resume and application letter.

We are looking forward to seeing you."

How formal is "looking forward to seeing you?"

"Looking forward to seeing you" is relatively less formal than its full-length version containing a subject and an auxiliary verb.

As sentence truncation or shortening is a characteristic of casual language use, it is best to utilize the complete sentence format if you want to increase the formality of any statement.

However , e-mail correspondence is becoming less and less formal these days; hence, word omission is getting more usual than ever, as well.

Apparently, a writer is the one holding the pen, so it is always up to him or her what sort of style adjustment should be done depending on the context.

To be more concrete, we can still further increase or decrease the formality of "looking forward to seeing you" when the situation requires.

While "excited to see you" would suffice in writing to a friend or a family member, "I am eagerly looking forward to our next meeting" would also be a bit too much.

And , it may also be inappropriate to say "see ya around" to your school's dean or to a business prospect who is a Chief Financial Officer of a company.

Such scenarios would create a register clash, which is only applicable when you're a New York-based comedian.

Kidding aside, the importance of considering the overall context when communicating is actually really integral in maintaining relationships.

So, let's also try to look at some handy expressions related to "looking forward to seeing you" that we can use in various scenarios.

Alternative Expressions to "looking forward to seeing you"

Knowing a bunch of alternative expressions is elemental in starting or maintaining both social and professional relationships.

This allows you to calibrate your tonality after assessing the context in which the language needs to operate in.

Excited to see you

A more casual way to say "looking forward to seeing you" is "excited to see you," which is applicable when a sense of familiarity is already established between the interlocutors.

As this expression conveys a personal tone, you can use this when you're texting or emailing your friends, classmate, cousins, and other intimate connections.

Unless you share a special bond with your superiors or business prospects, it is best to avoid this tonality when communicating with them.

Example:

"I've heard you're coming home next month, Deb. We can finally hang out again.

I'm so excited to see you!"

See you again soon

Another casual alternative is something as simple as "see you again soon," in which "soon" denotes an unspecified date in the near future.

This can be used when you are unsure of the exact time or date to meet the other person, but you do want to convey enthusiasm and desire at the same time.

Also , regardless of whether you would actually see the person anytime soon, this is a generic farewell expression that works pretty much all the time.

Similarly, it is better to use a more formal expression when corresponding with psychologically distant individuals.

Example:

"Thanks for coming to my mom's birthday party earlier, Cath.

See you again soon!

I am hoping to see you soon

When communicating with rather distant people, a functional alternative expression to use would be "I am hoping to see you soon."

This one's not pretentious, and it is also not too casual. In other words, it is a neutral yet polite way of conveying a desire to meet the other party without sounding too desperate.

Example:

You're sending a follow-up e-mail to your prospect whom you've just convinced to be on a virtual meeting for a product presentation.

"Happy Monday! There's no need for you to respond to this email. This is just to remind you about the product presentation meeting at 3 pm this afternoon.

I am hoping to see you soon!"

Looking forward to meeting you

Lastly, we can simply change "seeing" into "meeting," especially if we are going to visually or physically interact with the person for the first time.

The word "meeting" evokes a feeling of formality because it is often used in business-related settings.

While "see," comparatively speaking, is something that contains the connotation of spending time with a person, which is less formal.

So, when it's your first time interacting and seeing a person, especially for business-related reasons, it is best to use "looking forward to meeting you" instead .

Example:

"Thank you for considering my proposal, Mr. Gonzales.

I am looking forward to meeting you at your office tomorrow."

Frequently Asked Questions on "Looking forward to seeing you"

How can we reply to "looking forward to seeing you"?

To respond to a message that says "looking forward to seeing you," we can simply say "see you soon" or "see you then."

What is a synonym for "looking forward to seeing you"?

"Can't wait to see you" is a casual alternative, and "I am hoping to see you" is a neutrally formal one.

Which is grammatically correct, "I am looking forward to" or "I look forward to seeing you"?

Both expressions are grammatically correct, but the simple present tense in "l look forward to seeing you" is more formal than the other. The present continuous tense, though, is more commonly used in email writing at present.

Conclusion

In a world that's getting smaller and smaller each day, the role of communication has become even more salient than ever.

Since language thrives along with these changes, we humans also have to keep up with the pace.

Hence , amplifying our language skills by learning about linguistic nuances, such as the ones listed in this post, would do more good than harm.

Hey fellow Linguaholics! It's me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.

walkeralit1985.blogspot.com

Source: https://linguaholic.com/linguablog/looking-forward-to-seeing-you/