I'm an American. I grew up in the Midwest. And I've always said "towards" and "backwards" and "frontwards" and all that sort of thing. And that's how I have those words in my almost-finished novel. But the grammar check facility in my word processing program tells me those forms are British and I should change them to "toward," "backward," and so on. And for awhile I was acquiescing. I don't want to disturb the reader. But now it just sounds too weird to me, and I'm thinking of putting those Ss back in. What do you think? Does it matter? None of my beta readers has noticed it, not even the one who thought I was using vocab over her head. My novel is set in the American Midwest, if that matters.
Hi Catrin, Both versions are acceptable in standard English, although toward is more common in North America (but not where you are, evidently). Towards with an 's' isn't British English exactly. If anything it is the more common version in international English. Conclusion: unless an editor at a publishing company tells you to change it, I'd go with the one that you feel most comfortable with.
Thank you @Catrin Lewis for asking and thank you @Wayjor Frippery for answering. This is one of those little niggling questions I've always wondered but have been too lazy to ask. I'm a "towards" person but always paused because I feel I should use "toward".
