The difference between TO and TOWARDS

Look at these 2 sentences:

1) Jane is walking to the library.
2) Sarah is walking towards the library.

to and towards are prepositions to describe movement.

Both of these sentences are grammatically correct. But there is a slight difference in the meaning. In this lesson, you will learn the difference.

towards

Let’s look at a sentence:

Sarah is walking towards the library.

In this sentence, “towards the library” means “in the direction of the library”.

When we use “towards“, we are not describing the destination. Maybe the destination is the library. But we are not certain.

Maybe Sarah will stop before the library. Maybe Sarah will walk past the library.

We know only that Sarah is walking in the direction of the library.

We do not know the result of the movement.

towards or toward ?

Sometimes you will see the word “toward” instead of “towards”. So what is the difference between towards and toward ?

“towards” is British English.
“toward” is American English.

Examples:

Sarah is walking toward the library. (American English)
Sarah is walking towards the library. (British English)

The meaning of towards and toward is the same.

to

Look at this sentence:

Jane is walking to the library.

“to the library” means that the destination of the journey is the library.

Jane’s exact direction at any moment during the journey is not important. When we use “to“, we are describing the destination of the movement. Only Jane’s final destination is important.

We are describing the result of the movement.

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