You’ve probably seen the arguments. People get weirdly heated about it. Is it towards or is it toward? It’s one of those tiny grammatical quirks that feels like a secret handshake for editors, but honestly, it’s more about where you live than how smart you are. Most people think one is "right" and the other is just a lazy mistake. They’re wrong. Both versions have survived for over a thousand years, and they aren't going anywhere.
Language is messy.
In the United States and Canada, you’ll mostly see "toward." If you hop across the Atlantic to the UK or head down to Australia, you’re almost certainly going to see towards with that extra 's' tacked onto the end. It’s not just a regional preference, though. It’s a reflection of how English has branched off into different dialects, each clinging to its own set of rules while the world gets smaller.
Actually, if you look at the data, the usage of these words has shifted back and forth for centuries. It's not a static thing.
The Great "S" Debate: Why We Even Care
So, where did the 's' come from? It’s not just a random addition. Back in Old English, there was this thing called the genitive case. It’s basically a way of indicating direction or manner. Words like backwards, afterwards, and towards all grew out of this adverbial genitive. The 's' was a marker of how the word functioned in a sentence. Over time, American English started stripping away those extra letters—blame Noah Webster if you want—while British English kept them.
It's kinda fascinating how such a small change can signal so much about a writer's background.
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I was reading a style guide from a major UK newspaper recently, and they were incredibly strict about using towards. To them, "toward" sounds clipped, almost unfinished. Meanwhile, if you submit a manuscript to a New York publishing house with towards all over the place, the copyeditor is going to have a busy afternoon deleting thousands of 's' characters.
Does it actually matter for SEO?
Google's algorithms in 2026 are way smarter than they used to be. They understand "latent semantic indexing," which is a fancy way of saying they know that towards and "toward" mean the exact same thing. You aren't going to get penalized for using one over the other.
However, user experience is a different story.
If your target audience is in London and you keep using the Americanized version, it feels "off" to them. It’s like wearing a tuxedo to a backyard BBQ. It’s not wrong, but it’s definitely a vibe check. Localizing your language—even down to a single letter—builds trust. That trust is what keeps people on the page, which does help your rankings.
Moving Towards a More Natural Style
Let's talk about flow. Sometimes, towards just sounds better.
Read these two sentences out loud:
- He walked toward the door.
- He walked towards the flickering light.
The second one has a bit more of a rhythmic, sibilant quality. The extra 's' allows the tongue to slide into the next word if it starts with a soft consonant. Poets and novelists have known this for ages. They choose the version that fits the meter of the sentence, regardless of what the AP Stylebook says.
Honestly, most "grammar rules" are just preferences that got promoted.
Take the word forward. In the US, we say forward. In the UK, they often say forwards. But wait—even in America, we say backwards all the time. Why do we keep the 's' for the back but drop it for the front? There’s no logical reason. It’s just how the language settled into our brains.
Real-world usage in 2026
If you look at modern digital content, we’re seeing a massive blend of styles. Because we’re all reading the same tweets, Substack posts, and BBC news alerts, the lines are blurring. I’ve noticed more American Gen Z writers using towards simply because they think it sounds more "aesthetic" or sophisticated.
It’s a stylistic choice now.
But if you’re writing for a technical manual or a legal brief, you have to pick a side and stick to it. Consistency is the only real rule that matters in professional writing. Jumping back and forth between versions in the same document makes you look like you didn't proofread.
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Common Misconceptions You Should Probably Ignore
One big myth is that towards is a preposition and "toward" is an adjective. That is completely made up. They are both prepositions. They both describe a direction in space or time.
Another weird one? The idea that towards is only for physical movement and "toward" is for abstract goals. Like, "I'm walking towards the park" vs. "I'm working toward a promotion." Again, there is zero historical or linguistic evidence for this. You can use either for both.
- Physical: The cat ran towards the mouse.
- Abstract: We are making progress towards a solution.
- Time: It started getting colder towards the end of October.
See? It works everywhere.
The "Towards" vs. "To" Distinction
This is where people actually get tripped up. While towards and "toward" are interchangeable, towards and "to" are not.
"To" implies you actually reached the destination. "I went to the store" means you arrived there. Towards implies direction but not necessarily arrival. "I walked towards the store" means you headed that way, but maybe you stopped at a coffee shop halfway there. It’s about the journey, not the finish line.
Actionable Steps for Better Writing
If you're staring at your screen wondering which one to type, stop overthinking it. Use these three quick checks to decide.
Identify your audience first. If they are primarily in the UK, Canada, Australia, or India, use towards. If they are in the United States, use "toward." It’s the safest bet for professional credibility.
Check your style guide. If you’re writing for a specific publication, they likely have a preference buried in their documentation. The Chicago Manual of Style prefers "toward," while the Oxford Style Manual is team towards.
Read it out loud. If the sentence feels clunky or the transition to the next word is awkward, swap versions. The "s" sound can sometimes create an accidental hiss if the next word starts with an "s" or "sh" sound, like "towards some." In that specific case, "toward some" might actually be easier to read.
Audit your existing content. Don't just look for one word. Look for the "s" pattern across your whole site. If you use towards, you should probably also use afterwards, backwards, and downwards. Mixing them creates a "Frankenstein" dialect that can feel jarring to a sensitive reader.
The goal isn't to be a grammar robot. The goal is to be clear. Whether you’re leaning towards a more traditional British style or keeping it lean with the American version, just make sure your writing serves the person reading it.
The most important thing to remember is that language evolves. What’s considered a "mistake" today might be the standard tomorrow. Stay flexible, keep your audience in mind, and don't let a single letter get in the way of a great story.