Why is the first option the correct answer?
In the sentence, "I was looking forward _____ at the new restaurant, but it was closed."
a) to eating
b) to eat
Why is a) to eating correct and not b) to eat. What's wrong with 'to eat', it seems appropriate to me.
Top answer
The "to" in "look forward to" is a preposition, not an infinitive marker. g. "look forward to dinner" (this test is not always guaranteed to be conclusive, since some patterns can be used in both ways).
- The "to" in "look forward to" is a preposition, not an infinitive marker.
- g.
- "look forward to dinner" (this test is not always guaranteed to be conclusive, since some patterns can be used in both ways).
- It therefore needs to be followed by the "-ing" form of the verb, which can behave in a noun-like way (so-called "gerund"), not the verb infinitive.
- In my perception, errors such as "looking forward to eat", which I felt used to be purely confined to non-native speakers, are now increasingly heard from native speakers.
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The "to" in "look forward to" is a preposition, not an infinitive marker. You can tell this because we can follow it with a noun, e.g. "look forward to dinner" (this test is not always guaranteed to be conclusive, since some patterns can be used in both ways). It therefore needs to be followed by the "-ing" form of the verb, which can behave in a noun-like way (so-called "gerund"), not the ver
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