toward vs. towards and the like

by AnnaLisa Michalski

originally published in the ezine-turned-blog Word-wise, September 21, 2008

Which is right: toward or towards? It's not a matter of right and wrong as much as a matter of where. The Chicago Manual of Style notes that American usage prefers the shorter version while British usage prefers including the s on the end. Webster's New World Dictionary, the dictionary of choice among many American publications, implies a preference for the s-less version by defining it in full while relegating the s-ended version to variant-spelling status by listing it at the end as a run-in "also towards."

The references note similar differences for the words afterward/s, backward/s, downward/s, forward/s, and upward/s. In some cases, Webster's distinguishes between the use of the word as an adverb (no s) or an adjective (includes s), but even in these cases, the order of the listings implies a preference for the shorter version.

So, if you're editing your work for use in an American publication, you'll most likely need no s. If you're editing for British use, you most likely will.