Quote:
Originally Posted by rhadin
In contrast, in British English, the preference is towards and forwards when using these terms in the directional sense. In BrE, these words can only be adverbs.
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I'm not so sure about that. To my British ear, both "he walked forwards" and "he walked forward" are fine, although they have subtly different meanings. I'm struggling to formulate a rule, though. I would always say:
"When his name was called, he walked forward to collect his prize".
because "walked forwards" sounds wrong in that context, although I can't say why it does
.
On the other hand,
"While his friend walked backwards, he walked forwards"
sounds better to me (in that context) than "he walked forward".
Perhaps "forward" to indicate motion and "forwards" to indicate direction?
However, it would always be "He had a forward-looking attitude". "Forwards-looking" just sounds wrong.