I am looking forward to..

[jkid]

Hey all,
I am curious as to how I can say (in masu/desu) I am looking forward to going to Japan.


Thanks.

[Bueller_007]

Hey all,
I am curious as to how I can say (in masu/desu) I am looking forward to going to Japan.


Thanks.

As always, the recommendation when you don't know a phrase is to check Eijiro:
http://tinyurl.com/s2olx

You should use 〜〜を楽しみにしています
~~wo tanoshimi ni shite imasu

When it's a verb phrase, like "to go to Japan" (日本へ行く), you have to nominalize it with "の".

So,

日本へ行くのを楽しみにしています。
nihon e iku no wo tanoshimi ni shite imasu.

[Alan]

Ah, that made me realise that I didn't know the difference between -sa & -mi adjective endings, so I looked it up:
-sa Converts adjective into a noun that expresses degree
(e.g. shiroi => shirosa - whiteness)
-mi Converts (some) adjectives into a noun that expresses something emotive or tangible
(e.g. tanoshii =>tanoshimi - enjoyment

However I still haven't got to grips with the difference between 'no' & 'koto' as nominalisers for things such as に本へ行くの... It's on my to-do list.

Anyway one you get to japan, you will be able to say:
前から行ってみたいと思っていたんです。
mae kara itte mitai to omotte ita n desu.
For a long time I've been thinking of going & seeing.

Possibly prefix with 日本は (nihon wa), if the current topic isn't Japan

[Bueller_007]

"No" is used when it's something that the speaker (or the person whose viewpoint he is taking) can personally sense or experience. Use of "koto" sounds more removed from the situation.

日本へ行くことを楽しみにしています probably sounds strange, because it's difficult to look forward to something that you have nothing to do with.

[Alan]

Bueller-san, Thanks for the description of when to use 'no' & 'koto'

[Bueller_007]

Bueller-san, Thanks for the description of when to use 'no' & 'koto'

No worries...

It's actually more difficult than that. Some verbs ALWAYS take koto and some verbs ALWAYS take no. But that's a good general guideline to follow.

[jkid]

Thanks for all your help.