Toward vs Towards
When describing the action of moving in a particular direction, which of the two words ‘toward’ or ‘towards’ do you use? Confused? You ought to be. Both toward as well as towards are used by people around the world though there are areas in which toward is more common, whereas there are geographical regions where people use towards and not toward. Let us find out in this article if toward and towards are the same or is there any difference between the two?
As far as dictionaries are concerned, there is no difference in the meaning of the two words toward and towards. This is particularly true if either of the two words is used in a particular context. Many people think that perhaps the difference lies in the fact that toward is singular while towards is plural, but since the two words are used as prepositions and not as nouns, you cannot label towards as plural just because there is an s at its end. There are people who do not know which of the two words they use or would use. They say that they use either of the two depending upon which one sounds better to them.
If you were to go by the claims of American Heritage Dictionary of English Usage, you would find that Americans tend to use towards more often than toward. On the other hand, Britons are prone to using toward more than towards. In general, Americans are known to simplify things, and their spellings are mostly shorter than the British versions of the words. However, in the case of toward vs. towards, Americans strangely prefer the longer spelling.
Toward and towards have same meanings and you can use them interchangeably. Many experts have tried to find semantic differences between these prepositions but differences between toward and towards, if any, seem to be dialectical. British English makes more frequent use of toward than American English where it is towards that dominates. Both words indicate or imply movement in a particular direction. Toward is more common in written English than spoken English.