Many grammatical mistakes are immediately obvious. Think affect vs. effect or their vs. there vs. they’re. It’s hard not to notice when these words are used incorrectly. But there are also other commonly mixed-up words that are harder to spot. Take, for instance, towards vs. toward. The difference between the words is that of a single letter, tacked like an afterthought onto the end of the word. It’s reasonable to wonder if it really matters which word you use. Is there even really any difference between the two terms?
Toward: Definition and Usage
Toward is a preposition that means “in the direction of.” For instance, you might say, “She is headed toward the door.” Or, “To get to the ocean, walk toward the ice cream shop, then take a sharp right turn right before the bookstore.”
Towards: Definition and Usage
Though they’re spelled differently, ‘toward’ and ‘towards’ actually have the exact same meaning and usage, Grammarly reports. The only minor difference between the two words is the countries in which they’re more commonly used. “Toward” is considered more standard in American English, whereas “towards” is more commonly used in British and Australian English, per Thesaurus.com.
That means “towards” is used just like “toward.” For instance, you might say, “He is walking towards your house now,” or “The bird flew towards the mountains.”
Why are there two spellings of the same word?
But if “toward” and “towards” have the same meaning, why are they spelled differently? There’s no real reason behind the weird linguistical quirk, aside from the fact that both words evolved at the same time and were considered equally valid. Deriving from an Old English term meaning “in the direction of,” both “towards” and “toward” were commonly used starting as far back as a thousand years ago. Over time, the term “toward” became the more popular term in America. Ultimately, you should feel comfortable using either word, whether you’re in the U.S. or U.K., Merriam-Webster suggests.
Examples of “Towards” and “Toward”
If you don’t quite believe that “toward” and “towards” mean the same thing, here are a few examples of both words in use in major publications. You can see that they have the same meaning.
- “Like others, he often charged toward a red line – incitement, libel, bullying – and then veered away.” – Dan Bongino and the Big Business of Returning Trump to Power, The New Yorker
- “Marine Le Pen shifted towards a more socialist economic policy, and focused less on far-right rhetoric.” – Macron won in France – but Le Pen came closer than before, The Washington Post
- “In its latest attempt to fix widespread breakdowns in the federal student loan payment system, the Education Department said on Tuesday that it would use one-time waivers and adjustments to retroactively credit millions of borrowers with additional payments toward loan forgiveness.” – Millions move closer to student loan forgiveness with one-time government waivers, The New York Times
- “Posey had a crush on Reed during the beginning of the show, and Hennig towards the end of its run.” – 13 Stars of Beloved Teen TV Shows and Movies Who Came Clean About Crushing on Co-Stars They Never Dated, Buzzfeed
- “Remember, too, that Trump lost nationally by 4 points, so a 4-point swing toward Republicans suggests a neutral national environment.” – How the political environment is moving toward Republicans, CNN
Other Grammar Resources
Are there other grammar rules that trip you up? Make sure to check out some of our other grammatical content to get tips for your next email or paper, including our blog post on There vs. Their vs. They’re and our blog post on Until vs. Till vs. ‘Til.
