# Towards or Toward? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358 "2007-10-11T17:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/1 "2007-10-11T17:23:18Z")
Whenever I stumble upon the desire to use this word in a sentence, I never know which one is grammatically correct or if it dependson the content of the sentence. I believe I’ve heard both, but I think I usually say “towards.” ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/2 "2007-10-11T17:29:36Z")
They both mean the same thing, so they are used interchangeably. I think it’s just a matter of preference. I use ‘toward’ because it sounds cleaner to me. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/3 "2007-10-11T18:06:52Z")
[QUOTE=SharkB8] I believe I’ve heard both, but I think I usually say “towards.” [/QUOTE] Heathen! Actually, the AP Stylebook specifies _toward_, so I use that. But I’m in the States, and the AP is geared toward American usage. Brits are more likely to use towards. ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/4 "2007-10-11T19:04:14Z")
[QUOTE=Spiff] Heathen! Actually, the AP Stylebook specifies _toward_, so I use that. But I’m in the States, and the AP is geared toward American usage. Brits are more likely to use towards. [/QUOTE] Drats! The AP stylebook, the bane of my formal journalism education, rears her ugly mug once again. Touche. No wonder I say towards… ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/5 "2007-10-11T19:39:48Z")
Towards is only a varient of toward. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/6 "2007-10-11T19:57:55Z")
The main listing in my dictionary is “toward.” “Towards” is listed as a variation. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/7 "2007-10-11T20:42:02Z")
The one online usage guide I’m familiar with says this: \*toward, towards: \*interchangeable; toward is preferred. Be consistent. [(Source.)](http://www.iolani.honolulu.hi.us/Keables/KeablesGuide/PartThree/Letters/T.htm#toward) ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/8 "2007-10-11T23:26:03Z")
I have an immediate visceral revulsion toward _towards_, an artifact of far too many amateur choirs singing “peace on earth, good will towardssssesessses men”. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/9 "2007-10-12T12:56:21Z")
One distinction I seem to see people commonly make, apparently subconsciously, is that “toward” is almost consistently used for actual physical direction (“He walked toward town”; “She turned toward him with a shy smile on her face.”), while “towards” is used indiscriminately with “toward” when the meaning is more metaphorical or figurative: “Turn thy eye towards our need”; “The object of the law is to do justice toward(s) all men.” Whether this is purely coincidental, the artefact of my experience turned from anecdote to “rule”, or an actual psychological use distinction, is something I’d be curious about. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/10 "2007-10-12T13:02:01Z")
Not nearly as interesting as the post immediately following ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/11 "2007-10-12T13:02:49Z")
Per the Chicago Manual: > [@ChiManOnline](#): > > **Q.** Could you please tell me the difference between toward and towards? > > **A.** Yes, I think so, with the help of the American Heritage dictionary (1995, CD-ROM), which states: “Some critics have tried to discern a semantic distinction between toward and towards, but the difference is entirely dialectal. Toward is more common in American English; towards is the predominant form in British English.” Our press, being American, favors “toward.” ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/12 "2007-10-12T13:14:18Z")
> [@](#): > > And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, > Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? I say towards, perhaps because of the power of this poem. [http://www.thebeckoning.com/poetry/yeats/yeats5.html](http://www.thebeckoning.com/poetry/yeats/yeats5.html) ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towards-or-toward/422358/13 "2007-10-12T17:58:38Z")
According to the company I work for…(they have a book on this) Toward, towards. Toward is preferred. So there!