How do you say ' I look forward to' something in spanish?

Question

Hi, there have been so many times that I have wanted to say I look forward to something and somehow I just cant get the equivalent. I have heard 'tengo muchas ganas' but this also translates as I feel like.. Please help. The context is for If I had to say for example to my spanish skype tutor ' I look forward to our next lesson' or ' I look forward to going to Spain' . Thanks for advice!

Welcome to the forum! - NikkiLR, Jan 17, 2014

Answer 1

THis question has been asked many times on SD.

Including me ha ha

Click here to see some responses.

Lazarus was our Spanish guru here a while ago.

Thanks for the link Ian! - Noetol, Jan 17, 2014

Thank you - brenmoe, Jan 18, 2014

Answer 2

Hello I am Mexican.

The way I see "I look forward to" can be literally translated as "Espero pronto"

But it is a very formal phrase, for instance if you are writing a business letter.

If you intend to say good bye to a teacher, you should say.

"Muchas gracias por la lección del día de hoy, nos vemos en la siguiente clase, espero pronto poder ir a España."

Please notice that "espero pronto la siguiente clase" wont sound correct.

Another very casual way to say that, would be "Ojalá y pueda ir a España algún día"

But I am not sure that a Spaniard can understand the word "ojalá"... in Mexico it is a very common word but not for formal writting.

Saludos!

René (Please feel free to correct my English)

Rene, thank you! Your english is pretty perfect by the way! Although better to say 'please note that' instead of notice!:) - brenmoe, Jan 19, 2014

Nice job Renee :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 19, 2014

Answer 3

This is one of those tricky phrases that doesn't really have an equivalent translation.

You also need to be careful because you can end up sounding weird or giving the wrong idea quite easily.

So each situation will likely call for a different translation.

You can say things like ...

!qué ganas tengo de ir a España!

Or ¡Cuántas ganas tengo de ir a España!

Cuento los días que faltan para ir a España.

Or if your teacher says, see you next week, you can say '¡allí estaré! Which indirectly shows your enthusiasm.

You might use ... Espero con impaciencia, / ansias in certain situations.

Or sometimes just esperar works like on the end of a letter or email

I look forward to hearing from you

Espero noticias tuyas

This one may seem strange but I don't think it sounds quite as over the top as its English translation would ...

No veo la hora/el momento de ir etc

Bear in mind that some of these phrases are quite regional and sound perfect in some countries and a little weird in others. Sorry there's no 'one size fits all' answer to this one.

How helpful you all are guys! Thank you for all your answere!!:) - brenmoe, Jan 19, 2014

De nada :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 19, 2014

I would really love if more people got this. I think it would be helpful to just drop English-isms and just accept that Spanish has its own way of saying things. - lisaantonella, Jan 19, 2014

I know!:) But even though we often can't translate literally word for word and from english to spanish, unless I have the nearest 'equivalant' I just wouldn't have the confidence to use it. - brenmoe, Jan 19, 2014

@lisaantonelli- dropping the English-isms?? Then you would havwe to consider dropping the Spanish-isms. Instead just learn that every language has it's own interpretation rather than translation. - Mainer, Jan 19, 2014

Answer 4

Here is my attempt: Please put me right if I'm wrong.

Espero con gusto la proxima lección e ir para España

I am looking forward to the next lesson and going to Spain

Thanks! - brenmoe, Jan 19, 2014

Answer 5

Sometimes you can type in the English phrase in our SD dictionary and get some ideas in context. Just type in "look forward to' in the translate bar box to see it.

Answer 6

Espero con mucha ilusión visitar a España.

Thank you! - brenmoe, Jan 18, 2014