30秒搞懂 期待的英文 anticipate vs look forward to 用法差別

anticipate 和 look forward to 的分別

look forward to ：興奮並期待某件事情發生 。如果在負面消息的場合（離職通知、資遣通知等）使用就會很奇怪。

anticipate ：預期某件事情會發生，沒有特定情緒。

❌ I look forward to my boss firing me.

✔ I anticipate that my boss will fire me.

anticipate 用法與例句

anticipate something

• The eagerly anticipated movie will be released next month.

anticipate that

• It is anticipated that the research will have many different practical applications.
• It is anticipated that inflation will stabilize at 3 per cent.
• This year, we anticipate that our expenses will be 15% greater.

anticipate doing

• I didn’t anticipate having to do the cooking myself!
• They anticipate moving to bigger premises by the end of the year.

anticipate something doing something

• I don't anticipate it being a problem.

look forward to 用法與例句

look forward to 是一個片語，「to」在這邊是作為介系詞使用，而所有的介系詞後面的動詞都必須為動名詞 gerund (動詞+ing = doing)。

錯誤句型

❌ look forward to + verb (不可用動詞原形).

❌ I look forward to meet you. (meet 為動詞原形，要改為 meeting 才對)

正確句型

✅ look forward to + gerund (動名詞 = doing)

✅ look forward to + noun (名詞)

✅ I look forward to meeting you.

✅ I look forward to hearing from you soon.

✅ We are looking forward to receiving your answer next week.

✅ He looked forward to the end of his shift.

參考資料

• TutorABC 大會堂 LV 2-6 成功商務人士的工具：第一次寫英文商業信就上手！（學員心得分享）
• look forward to something |  Longman Dictionary
• look forward to sth：劍橋詞典
• anticipate | Longman Dictionary 
• anticipate |  Cambridge Dictionary