I only know "towards" and always use it before today: "move towards", etc. But today, I come across toward, after referring the dictionary, I find I can't differentiate them clearly. What is the difference between "toward" and "towards"? How can use them?
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Nan Xiao
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2Not much. Similar remarks on beside and besides. – John Lawler May 11 '15 at 03:33
2 Answers
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OALD has: towards, also toward, especially AmE.
rogermue
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1perhaps the OP (original poster) is unaware of what OALD stands for, not everyone is familiar with the acronyms used on this site. This also includes AmE. – Mari-Lou A Jun 10 '15 at 05:11
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OALD - Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/towards?q=towards. BrE British English, AmE American English. – rogermue Jun 10 '15 at 06:04
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If it has both toward and towards, that doesn't answer the question. – Chenmunka Jun 10 '15 at 08:37
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Toward is a graphical variant of towards, meaning it is the same word which can be spelt in 2 different ways.
Sylverdrag
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1Graphical variant? I would take that to mean they are pronounced the same, but as far as I know that's never the case. – herisson May 11 '15 at 03:51
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3Because "graphical variant" to me implies that the variance is solely graphical. If it's both a graphical and oral variant, I would expect it to just be called a "variant". – herisson May 11 '15 at 04:04