the difference between towards, toward and to.

To, toward, towards

Your Questions Answered by : FADZILAH AMIN

thestar.com.my

I CANNOT tell the difference between towards, toward and to.

Examples:

a) Thank you for your effort/contribution (towards, toward or to) the implementation of the project.

b) Thank you for your effort/contribution (towards, toward or to) the completion of the project.

c) Thank you for your effort/contribution (towards, toward or to) the launch of the project.

d) Thank you for your effort/contribution (towards, toward or to) the start/end of the project. – Paul Chan

If you want to write British English, use “towards” or “to”. “Toward” is used in American English, which also uses “towards”.

“Effort” and “contribution” can be used with “towards” in all your sentences.

“Contribution” can also be used with “to” in all your sentences.

However, “effort” cannot be followed by “to” in any of your sentences, where “to” is used as a preposition. If you use “effort” in a sentence beginning, like yours, with “Thank you for your effort to ...”, the “to” there is an infinitive marker and must be followed by an infinitive. I shall alter the ends of your sentences so that they contain infinitives, in order to use “effort” with them:

Thank you for your effort to implement the project.

Thank you for your effort to complete the project

Thank you for your effort to launch the project.

Thank you for your effort to start/end the project.

I find that the altered sentences have meanings that are slightly different from the originals, where “effort” or “contribution” is used with “towards”, or where “contribution” is used with “to”. The altered sentences suggest that the person addressed (“you”) has worked single-handedly to implement/complete/launch/start/end the project. The original sentences suggest a group effort, where “you” only contributed “your” share. So it’s best not to use “effort” with either kind of “to” in your sentences.