I want to know what's right...?

Question

I'm a little confused between the usage of "On behalf" and "In behalf". Someone told me that there's no such word as "In behalf". What's the right one to use when writing a formal letter? Please explain too. (I'm Asian by the way)

And I'm also wondering about the preposition "to" when used with a verb like "see", I have seen someone used it ,but the verb :see has ing. ex: " We look forward to seeing you in our seminars". Isn't it wrong? she should have used " We look forward to see you in our seminars".

Thanks, I just want to know what's the right grammar.

Answer 1

They are right. You can do something on behalf of someone else, not "in behalf".

eg I am writing to you on behalf of my daughter who is very ill and cannot write this letter herself.

The sentence "I look forward to seeing you...." is correct. You could also say "I am looking forward to seeing you.."  or  "I wish to see you".

English is a confusing language, there are so many other languages that  are intergrated into it, so many strange rules and exceptions to the rules.

Answer 2

I am a native English speaker. I have never said "in behalf"; always "on behalf". There is no logic to it; many English prepositions are like that.

"seeing" is an object, not a verb, so you use "ing".

We look forward to Chinese New Year.

We look forward to summer holidays.

We look forward to seeing you.

I think a verb used as a noun is a gerund, but it has been a long time since I was labeling parts of speech.

I look forward to swimming in the ocean.

I look forward to eating the dim sum I can smell steaming in the kitchen.

Answer 3

I MAY be wrong, but I have never actually seen anyone use the phrase "In Behalf." It's always been "On Behalf." So stick with that one. Also, for the latter part of your question, the reason we add the "-ing" to the verb after the preposition "to" is put in place is because it is a premeditated happening, thus making it a past-tense in a way. So she was correct to use "seeing," and it goes that way in most cases that involve "to" as a preposition.