"Looking forward to seeing you" in Business Writing

Alternative Expressions to “looking forward to seeing you” · Excited to see you · See you again soon · Subscribe to Linguaholic! · I am hoping to ... SkiptoContent SomeEnglishexpressionsseemtosoundnaturalandunproblematicwhenexpressedbyanativespeaker. Butforsomenon-natives,theseexpressionscouldgetalittleawkwardparticularlywhentheindividualmeaningofwordsandhowtheyrelatetooneanotheraredissectedinappropriately. Oneoftheseexpressionsis“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”whereby,forthemostpart,thetroublecomesfromthearrangementofthelastthreewords. Quitstayinginthatunholy,negativetown,forourposttodaywillkeepallofyourconfusionatbay.   Isthephrase“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”grammaticallycorrect? Notonlyis“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”grammaticallyflawless,butitalsodepictsnative-likefluency.“Lookingforwardto”isaphrasal-prepositionalverbthatrequiresanounafterwardtobegrammatical.Thisisacommonexpressionusedtoexpressexcitementatanupcomingmeeting.   Understandingthegrammaticalstructureof “lookingforwardtoseeingyou” “Lookingforwardtoseeingyou”isthereducedversionof“Iamlookingforwardtoseeingyou”inwhichthesubjectandtheauxiliaryverbareomitted. Thesubject“I”andtheverb“am”arereplaceabledependingonthecontextandtheintentionofthelanguageuser. Moreprecisely,youcansubstitute“I”withothersubjectpronounsandnounslike“we,”“they,”“he,”“she,”“Anna,”or“Simon.” Whereas,“are,”“is,”“hasbeen,”“havebeen”or“hadbeen”maytaketheplaceof“am”accordingtothesubjectbeingused. Indubitably,wecantherebydeducethat“seeing”isnottheverbinthestatement,butitisrathertheobjectofthepreposition“to.” Meanwhile,“lookingforwardto”iswhatwerefertoasaphrasalverb,atypeofverbwhichisacombinationoftwoormorewordshavingaspecialmeaning. “Tolookforwardto”meanstoexpectoranticipateanupcomingeventoractivitywhichisusedtoconveyasenseofexcitementtowardtherecipientofthemessage. Togetridoftheconfusion,ifany,let’shavealookatthesepartsindetail.    “Lookingforwardtoseeingyou”vs.“Lookingforwardtoseeyou” Although“lookingforwardtoseeyou”maynotnecessarilypromptanyconfusionnormisinformation,thestatementdoesnotfollowthegrammaticalconventionsofthenatives. Evenmygrammarcheckertoolchokedatmyusageof“tosee”intheprevioussentence,almostinstantlyalertingmetochangethephraseupontyping. “Lookingforwardto”isaphrasal-prepositionalverbthatismadeupofthreedistinctlexemesactingasaunittocreateanewmeaning. “Tobeusedto,”“togetaccustomedto,”and“toadmitto”arealsootherlengthyphrasalverbsthatoftenconfusenon-nativeusersofEnglish. So,inordertounderstandthegrammaticalmake-upoftheentireexpression,wehavetogroupthewordsaccordingly. Relatedposts: “Lookingforwardtotalkingtoyou”inBusinessWriting “Lookingforwardtoworkingwithyou”inBusinessWriting TheTruthabout“Ilookforwardtospeakingwithyou” “Iamwritingtoinquireabout”inBusinessCorrespondence “Seeingyou,”ismeanwhilethecompleteprepositionalobject,meaningthenounthatthepreposition“to”isactingupon. Thisphrasehastobetreatedseparatelytoremovetheobscurity. Moreover,“seeing”isanounthatismasqueradingasaverb,moreparticularlycalledagerund;while“tosee”isaninfinitivephrase. Eventhoughbothmayfunctionasanounwithinasentence,onlygerundscanactasanobjectofapreposition. Allofthesesyntacticalsubtletiesmake“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”themostwidelyrecognizedandacceptedgrammaticalstructureintherealmoftheEnglishlanguage.   Usingthephrase“lookingforwardtoseeingyou” Theentireexpressionisusedtoinformanotherpersonorgroupofpeoplethatoneisexcitedaboutanupcomingmeetingorphysicalinteraction. Althoughusingthisverbiageinspokenconversationsispossible,itismorecommontouseitinwrittencorrespondence,whichisgenerallyexpectedtobemoreformal. Usingthisinmoreformalspokendiscussionsisalsorecommended,butreducingitsformalityismoreappropriateinmorecasualones. Wewouldnotice“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”ine-mailwritingasaclosingstatementasawaytoconveypolitenessthroughlanguage. Itisfoundinsituationswhereinamessagesenderwantstomaketherecipientfeelwelcomedandcomfortable,suchasarecruitercommunicatingtoanapplicant. Example: Let’sjustsayyou’rearecruitingstaffinvitinganapplicantwhojustpassedtheinitialonlinescreeningforavacantjobposition.Here’swhatyoumightwriteinyoure-mail: “Wearepleasedtohearthatyouareavailableforaninterviewhereintheofficenextweek.Pleasedon’tforgettobringprintedcopiesofyourresumeandapplicationletter. Wearelookingforwardtoseeingyou.”   Howformalis“lookingforwardtoseeingyou?” “Lookingforwardtoseeingyou”isrelativelylessformalthanitsfull-lengthversioncontainingasubjectandanauxiliaryverb. Assentencetruncationorshorteningisacharacteristicofcasuallanguageuse,itisbesttoutilizethecompletesentenceformatifyouwanttoincreasetheformalityofanystatement. However,e-mailcorrespondenceisbecominglessandlessformalthesedays;hence,wordomissionisgettingmoreusualthanever,aswell. Apparently,awriteristheoneholdingthepen,soitisalwaysuptohimorherwhatsortofstyleadjustmentshouldbedonedependingonthecontext. Tobemoreconcrete,wecanstillfurtherincreaseordecreasetheformalityof“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”whenthesituationrequires. While“excitedtoseeyou”wouldsufficeinwritingtoafriendorafamilymember,“Iameagerlylookingforwardtoournextmeeting”wouldalsobeabittoomuch. And,itmayalsobeinappropriatetosay“seeyaaround”toyourschool’sdeanortoabusinessprospectwhoisaChiefFinancialOfficerofacompany. Suchscenarioswouldcreatearegisterclash,whichisonlyapplicablewhenyou’reaNewYork-basedcomedian. Kiddingaside,theimportanceofconsideringtheoverallcontextwhencommunicatingisactuallyreallyintegralinmaintainingrelationships. So,let’salsotrytolookatsomehandyexpressionsrelatedto“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”thatwecanuseinvariousscenarios.   AlternativeExpressionsto“lookingforwardtoseeingyou” Knowingabunchofalternativeexpressionsiselementalinstartingormaintainingbothsocialandprofessionalrelationships. Thisallowsyoutocalibrateyourtonalityafterassessingthecontextinwhichthelanguageneedstooperatein.   Excitedtoseeyou Amorecasualwaytosay“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”is“excitedtoseeyou,”whichisapplicablewhenasenseoffamiliarityisalreadyestablishedbetweentheinterlocutors. Asthisexpressionconveysapersonaltone,youcanusethiswhenyou’retextingoremailingyourfriends,classmate,cousins,andotherintimateconnections. Unlessyoushareaspecialbondwithyoursuperiorsorbusinessprospects,itisbesttoavoidthistonalitywhencommunicatingwiththem. Example: “I’veheardyou’recominghomenextmonth,Deb.Wecanfinallyhangoutagain. I’msoexcitedtoseeyou!”   Seeyouagainsoon Anothercasualalternativeissomethingassimpleas“seeyouagainsoon,”inwhich“soon”denotesanunspecifieddateinthenearfuture. Thiscanbeusedwhenyouareunsureoftheexacttimeordatetomeettheotherperson,butyoudowanttoconveyenthusiasmanddesireatthesametime. Also,regardlessofwhetheryouwouldactuallyseethepersonanytimesoon,thisisagenericfarewellexpressionthatworksprettymuchallthetime. Similarly,itisbettertouseamoreformalexpressionwhencorrespondingwithpsychologicallydistantindividuals. Example: “Thanksforcomingtomymom’sbirthdaypartyearlier,Cath. Seeyouagainsoon!   Iamhopingtoseeyousoon Whencommunicatingwithratherdistantpeople,afunctionalalternativeexpressiontousewouldbe“Iamhopingtoseeyousoon.” Thisone’snotpretentious,anditisalsonottoocasual.Inotherwords,itisaneutralyetpolitewayofconveyingadesiretomeettheotherpartywithoutsoundingtoodesperate. Relatedposts: “Lookingforwardtotalkingtoyou”inBusinessWriting “Lookingforwardtoworkingwithyou”inBusinessWriting TheTruthabout“Ilookforwardtospeakingwithyou” “Iamwritingtoinquireabout”inBusinessCorrespondence Example: You’resendingafollow-upe-mailtoyourprospectwhomyou’vejustconvincedtobeonavirtualmeetingforaproductpresentation. “HappyMonday!There’snoneedforyoutorespondtothisemail.Thisisjusttoremindyouabouttheproductpresentationmeetingat3pmthisafternoon. Iamhopingtoseeyousoon!”   Lookingforwardtomeetingyou Lastly,wecansimplychange“seeing”into“meeting,”especiallyifwearegoingtovisuallyorphysicallyinteractwiththepersonforthefirsttime. Theword“meeting”evokesafeelingofformalitybecauseitisoftenusedinbusiness-relatedsettings. While“see,”comparativelyspeaking,issomethingthatcontainstheconnotationofspendingtimewithaperson,whichislessformal. So,whenit’syourfirsttimeinteractingandseeingaperson,especiallyforbusiness-relatedreasons,itisbesttouse“lookingforwardtomeetingyou”instead. Example: “Thankyouforconsideringmyproposal,Mr.Gonzales. Iamlookingforwardtomeetingyouatyourofficetomorrow.”   FrequentlyAskedQuestionson“Lookingforwardtoseeingyou”   Howcanwereplyto“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”? Torespondtoamessagethatsays“lookingforwardtoseeingyou,”wecansimplysay“seeyousoon”or“seeyouthen.”   Whatisasynonymfor“lookingforwardtoseeingyou”? “Can’twaittoseeyou”isacasualalternative,and“Iamhopingtoseeyou”isaneutrallyformalone.   Whichisgrammaticallycorrect,“Iamlookingforwardto”or“Ilookforwardtoseeingyou”? Bothexpressionsaregrammaticallycorrect,butthesimplepresenttensein“llookforwardtoseeingyou”ismoreformalthantheother.Thepresentcontinuoustense,though,ismorecommonlyusedinemailwritingatpresent. Conclusion Inaworldthat’sgettingsmallerandsmallereachday,theroleofcommunicationhasbecomeevenmoresalientthanever. Sincelanguagethrivesalongwiththesechanges,wehumansalsohavetokeepupwiththepace. Hence,amplifyingourlanguageskillsbylearningaboutlinguisticnuances,suchastheoneslistedinthispost,woulddomoregoodthanharm. MarcelIseliHeyfellowLinguaholics!It’sme,Marcel.Iamtheproudowneroflinguaholic.com.LanguageshavealwaysbeenmypassionandIhavestudiedLinguistics,ComputationalLinguisticsandSinologyattheUniversityofZurich.ItismyutmostpleasuretosharewithallofyouguyswhatIknowaboutlanguagesandlinguisticsingeneral. Postnavigation RoundingGPAonaResume—TheDefinitiveGuideCommabefore“whom”—TheCompleteGuide JointheLinguaFam!TopPostsTheManyMeaningsof“(Korean)CrowTit”DEMYSTIFIEDWhatisTheMeaningof/s?