to vs towards

Anonymous
Hi,

The example is from dictionary:
'He has a very bad attitude to/towards work.'

Do the preposition 'to' and 'towards' mean the same here and are they usually interchangeable when used with 'attitude'?
Thanks

Anon,

This is one of those questions that learners find confusing.

In most contexts

Hi Goodman,

First, thank you very much for your answer.
After reading your reply, I'm still confused. According to the dictionary, 'to' is also used with 'attitude' in the example, why do't you think it is fine here? What is the difference between them? Could you please explain it?

Thanks

Anonymous
Hi Goodman,

First, thank you very much for your answer.
After reading your reply, I'm still confused. According to the dictionary, 'to' is also used with 'attitude' in the example, why don't you think it is fine here? What is the difference between them if they are not interchangeable? Could you please explain that?

Thanks

The example in your dictionary is written with to/towards to show that the editors of the dictionary believe that to and towards can be used interchangeably in that context. They are saying that some people prefer one, and some people prefer the other.

Personally, like Goodman, I would use toward in that sentence. (toward and towards are va

Like the others, I would also choose 'towards' for your sentence. But I don't think they are interchangeable.

"To" is a destination.
Walk to the mall. Your destination is the mall.

"Toward/Towards" is a direction.
Walk towards the mall. Your destination is still unknown, but you know in which direction to walk.

Walk towards the mall, turn right on 2nd Avenue,

Yes, but I think the difference is neutralized when it's not a question of physical movement -- or at least the dictionary editors think so. Here it's a question of an attitude to or towards work, not a drive to or towards work.

CJ

True. There is no physical movement in this case. I just used typical examples to illustrate the concepts. But I think "very bad attitude" still needs to be directed at something.

This is why I would still use "towards" even though the Cambridge editors do seem to suggest that to and towards can be used interchangeably for the "attitude" sentence.

To retain its essence, using

Hi, CJ and Arvsworld, Thank you both very much for your comments.

"Attitude to" sounds alien to me. It's "toward" in my book.