Is it Backward or Backwards?
2024 Grammar-for-Grownups Top 10
Number 5: Is She Moving Backward or Backwards?
Keep the wacky words coming! Thanks to all of you who have been commenting and adding to our wacky-word conversation these past few weeks. Please continue to post your questions and share your examples. This week’s winner is backward/backwards.
Is it backward or backwards?
We’ve all heard it both ways. But only one way is correct: backward.
It’s backward. No “s.” Never say backwards.
Allow me to share a helpful gimmick to cement this rule in your mind: If you can’t go forwards, then you can’t go backwards. That’s a fun yet memorable trick for remembering not to put an “s” on those words. We don’t say forwards, so we shouldn’t say backwards. It’s forward and backward. It’s toward, not towards.
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