Which of the 2 sentences is correct?
Sam is looking forward to see the Rocky mountains.
Sam is looking forward to seeing the Rocky mountains.
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1What do dictionaries suggest? - http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/look+forward#look_1__225 – Em1 Feb 06 '14 at 11:04
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"To see the Rocky Mountains is something Sam looks forward to" is also a possibility. Don – rhetorician Dec 06 '14 at 17:30
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possible duplicate of "To hear" or "to hearing"? – Mari-Lou A Aug 03 '15 at 08:30
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In the example you gave, "to seeing" is correct. To understand why, let's think about different meanings of the word to.
- To can be part of a verb in the infinitive: "To be or not to be,..." or "I can't wait to see the Rocky Mountains." The to is part of the action.
- To can also be a preposition, a word that demonstrates a relationship with something. Here that something is "seeing the Rocky Mountains", it's what Sam is looking forward to — seeing is a thing, it is a noun.
By the way, the M in "Rocky Mountains" should be capitalized, it's part of the place name.
RegDwigнt
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1Could you show us how "seeing" is a noun and not a verb in the expression "to seeing the Rocky Mountains"? – F.E. Feb 06 '14 at 11:07