diff --git a/HOWTO.rst b/HOWTO.rst
index 7885885..b93212b 100644
--- a/HOWTO.rst
+++ b/HOWTO.rst
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ Defining Rules
     - ``star(zero, or_more)``
     - ``plus(one, or_more)``
     - ``_or(one, of, these)``
+    - ``lookahead(this, stuff)`` # checks the content, but without consuming its tokens.
+    - ``notahead(this, stuff)`` # checks the content, and matches only if it *does not* match.
     - ``_not(this, stuff)`` # checks the content, and if it *does not* match,
       consumes **a single** token.
     - ``TOKEN_NAME``
diff --git a/codetalker/c/parser.c b/codetalker/c/parser.c
index 01378b4..5216e34 100644
--- a/codetalker/c/parser.c
+++ b/codetalker/c/parser.c
@@ -471,6 +471,38 @@ struct cParseNode* check_special(unsigned int rule, struct RuleSpecial special,
         _kill_ptree(current);
         DEDENT();
         return NULL;
+    } else if (special.type == LOOKAHEAD) {
+        LOG("LOOKAHEAD\n");
+        at = tokens->at;
+        tmp = parse_children(rule, special.option, grammar, tokens, error);
+        if (tmp == NULL) {
+            LOG("No match.\n");
+            _kill_ptree(current);
+            tokens->at = at;
+            DEDENT();
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        LOG("Matched.\n");
+        _kill_ptree(tmp);
+        tokens->at = at;
+        DEDENT();
+        return current;
+    } else if (special.type == NOTAHEAD) {
+        LOG("NOTAHEAD\n");
+        at = tokens->at;
+        tmp = parse_children(rule, special.option, grammar, tokens, error);
+        if (tmp == NULL) {
+            LOG("No match.\n");
+            tokens->at = at;
+            DEDENT();
+            return current;
+        }
+        LOG("Matched.\n");
+        _kill_ptree(current);
+        _kill_ptree(tmp);
+        tokens->at = at;
+        DEDENT();
+        return NULL;
     } else {
         LOG("unknown special type: %d\n", special.type);
         _kill_ptree(current);
diff --git a/codetalker/c/parser.h b/codetalker/c/parser.h
index 150b726..825cd06 100644
--- a/codetalker/c/parser.h
+++ b/codetalker/c/parser.h
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ enum RuleItemType {
 };
 
 enum RuleSpecialType {
-    STAR, PLUS, QUESTION, OR, STRAIGHT, NOT, NOIGNORE
+    STAR, PLUS, QUESTION, OR, STRAIGHT, NOT, NOIGNORE, LOOKAHEAD, NOTAHEAD
 };
 
 struct RuleSpecial {
diff --git a/codetalker/cgrammar.pyx b/codetalker/cgrammar.pyx
index d03c13e..705bb8a 100644
--- a/codetalker/cgrammar.pyx
+++ b/codetalker/cgrammar.pyx
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ cdef extern from "c/parser.h":
         LITERAL, RULE, TOKEN, SPECIAL
 
     enum RuleSpecialType:
-        STAR, PLUS, QUESTION, OR, STRAIGHT, NOIGNORE, NOT
+        STAR, PLUS, QUESTION, OR, STRAIGHT, NOT, NOIGNORE, LOOKAHEAD, NOTAHEAD
 
     struct RuleSpecial:
         RuleSpecialType type
@@ -535,6 +535,10 @@ cdef RuleItem convert_item(object item, bint from_or=False):
             citem.value.special.type = QUESTION
         elif item[0] == '!':
             citem.value.special.type = NOT
+        elif item[0] == '@':
+            citem.value.special.type = LOOKAHEAD
+        elif item[0] == '~':
+            citem.value.special.type = NOTAHEAD
         elif item[0] == 'i':
             citem.value.special.type = NOIGNORE
         # TODO: implement non-greedy +? and *?
diff --git a/codetalker/pgm/special.py b/codetalker/pgm/special.py
index ebfe893..07799bd 100644
--- a/codetalker/pgm/special.py
+++ b/codetalker/pgm/special.py
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ class no_ignore(Special):
     char = 'i'
 class _not(Special):
     char = '!'
+class lookahead(Special):
+    char = '@'
+class notahead(Special):
+    char = '~'
 
 import string
 
diff --git a/tests/parse/lookahead.py b/tests/parse/lookahead.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1883d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/parse/lookahead.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+from codetalker import pgm
+from codetalker.pgm.tokens import ANY, ID, NUMBER, STRING, WHITE
+from codetalker.pgm.special import lookahead, notahead
+from codetalker.pgm.grammar import ParseError
+
+def sentence(rule):
+    rule | (subjects, "verb", objects, ["and", subjects, "verb", objects], ".")
+
+def subjects(rule):
+    rule | ("noun", ["and", "noun"], lookahead("verb"))
+
+def objects(rule):
+    rule | ("noun", ["and", "noun", notahead("verb")])
+
+grammar = pgm.Grammar(start=sentence, tokens=[ID, WHITE, ANY], ignore=[WHITE])
+
+def test_one():
+    text = 'noun verb noun.'
+    tree = grammar.process(text)
+    assert str(tree) == text
+
+def test_two():
+    text = 'noun and noun verb noun.'
+    tree = grammar.process(text)
+    assert str(tree) == text
+
+def test_three():
+    text = 'noun verb noun and noun.'
+    tree = grammar.process(text)
+    assert str(tree) == text
+
+def test_four():
+    text = 'noun verb noun and noun verb noun.'
+    tree = grammar.process(text)
+    assert str(tree) == text
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    for name, fn in globals().items():
+        if name.startswith('test_'):
+            fn()
+            print 'test passed'
+    print 'Finished!'
+
+# vim: et sw=4 sts=4