Friday, June 26, 2015

forward/forwards/foreword: Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Friday, June 26, 2015

forward/forwards/foreword
Although some style books prefer “forward” and “toward” to “forwards” and “towards,” none of these forms is really incorrect, though the forms without the final S are perhaps a smidgen more formal. The same generally applies to “backward” and “backwards.” There are a few expressions in which only one of the two forms works: step forward, forward motion, a backward child. The spelling “foreword” applies exclusively to the introductory matter in a book.

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This is the ten-year anniversary of the Common Errors in English Usage calendar. To celebrate, we are bringing back some of our favorite interesting, funny, but sometimes merely silly entries through the years before going on hiatus in 2016.

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