Towards is a preposition meaning: (1) in the direction of a place or person; (2) getting closer to a goal or state; (3) as a contribution to a cost or purpose; or (4) in relation to or regarding someone. It is the standard British English spelling — American English uses toward.
What Does Towards Mean?
Towards comes from Old English toweard, built from to (in the direction of) and weard (a directional suffix derived from Proto-Germanic *warðaz). The same suffix gives English forward, backward, upward, and homeward. The final -s became standard in British English during the Middle English period; the form without it (toward) survives in American English.
The word carries four distinct but related senses. The most concrete is physical direction: She walked towards the window. This extends naturally to abstract progress: working towards a degree. A third sense covers partial financial contribution: £200 towards the repairs. The fourth describes an emotional or attitudinal stance: his rudeness towards customers. Each sense is common in everyday British English and all four appear regularly in academic and professional writing.
Note that towards is always a preposition — it cannot stand alone as an adverb. It must be followed by a noun or noun phrase. Compare this with forward, which can function as an adverb on its own (move forward).
Example Sentences by CEFR Level
| Sentence | Level | Usage note |
|---|---|---|
| The dog ran towards me in the park. | A2 | physical direction — everyday context |
| She made steady progress towards her goal of reaching B2 level. | B1 | progress towards an abstract goal |
| They saved a little money each month towards their holiday. | B1 | contribution towards a purpose |
| The company has adopted a more flexible attitude towards remote working. | B2 | attitude/stance towards a subject |
| Towards the end of the fiscal quarter, cost pressures intensified significantly. | C1 | temporal use — approaching a point in time |
Collocations with Towards
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| move towards | The team is moving towards a final decision. |
| work towards | She is working towards her Cambridge certificate. |
| progress towards | Good progress has been made towards the target. |
| head towards | We headed towards the city centre on foot. |
| attitude towards | His attitude towards criticism has improved. |
| contribute towards | All donations contribute towards running costs. |
| step towards | This is a positive step towards reconciliation. |
| look towards | Investors are looking towards emerging markets. |
| lean towards | The committee is leaning towards the cheaper option. |
| gesture towards | She gestured towards the whiteboard to explain the point. |
Usage Notes
Key Usage Points
- British vs American spelling: Always write towards in British English. The form toward (no final -s) is correct in American English but will look like a spelling error in British academic or professional writing.
- Always needs an object: Towards must be followed by a noun or pronoun. You cannot say "she walked towards" and stop — you must say "she walked towards the exit".
- Temporal use: Towards is regularly used to mean "approaching a point in time": towards noon, towards the end of the chapter, towards midnight.
- Contribution sense: When expressing a partial financial contribution, towards makes clear the amount is not the total cost: He gave £50 towards the gift implies others contributed too.
- Attitude sense: After nouns of feeling, opinion, or behaviour, towards is preferred over to: his hostility towards outsiders (not his hostility to outsiders — though to is not wrong, towards is more idiomatic).
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
She is working toward her degree. (American spelling — avoid in British English writing)
She is working towards her degree.
I walked towards of the station.
I walked towards the station. (no extra preposition after towards)
His attitude to learning languages is very positive. (grammatically correct, but less idiomatic)
His attitude towards learning languages is very positive. (towards is the preferred choice with 'attitude')
She saved money toward buy a new laptop.
She saved money towards buying a new laptop. (towards + gerund phrase, not bare infinitive)
Etymology
Towards derives from Old English toweard, a compound of to (in the direction of) and weard, a directional suffix from Proto-Germanic *warðaz (turned towards). The same suffix produces forward (from foreweard), backward, inward, outward, homeward, and many similar direction words in English. In Old English, toweard could also function as an adjective meaning "about to happen" or "favourable" (compare modern forward-looking). By Middle English this adjectival sense had faded, leaving the purely prepositional meaning we use today. The final -s (as in towards, backwards, upwards) is a genitive ending that became attached to many directional adverbs and prepositions in Middle English, and it is this form that became dominant in British English.