Backward versus Backwards
Just add a small alphabet to a word and you will see the entire meaning of context will change. These small alternations are not visible to the eyes sometimes and left ignored but can cause a great trouble while writing formally. In this article we are going to deal with such two terms only namely backward and backwards.
In this article we are going to see meanings of the term described above and also we are going to use them in sentence making for better understanding.
Use of the term backward and backwards in sentence making
Backward |
Backwards |
Backward as an adjective |
Backwards as an adverb |
Term often conveys a sense of direction towards the rear or a lack of progress, development, or social ease
Use in sentences Sam there are many remote village had a backward infrastructure with limited access to modern amenities.
In some aspects, the educational system in the Sam’s region was considered backward.
As for Sam the new law as a backward move in terms of civil rights.
Sam’s decision to remove certain features from the software was viewed as a backward step.
Important note Backward sometimes also used as adverb meaning opposite of forward. |
Term refers to the direction or toward the back. It is the adverbial form of the word “backward”.
Use in sentences Sam accidentally stepped on the rake and fell backwards.
The acrobat somersaulted Sam backwards with incredible precision.
Sam accidentally glued the puzzle pieces together backwards
The printer was set to print pages backwards, resulting in a confusing document for Sam. |
Important note
As in the above segment of the article we have seen the meaning of both the words and created sentences using both the terms. We can say that indeed there is a difference in the terms and they can’t be used interchangeably. In order to remember the difference we can use a simple trick that is
Term backward is mostly and almost everywhere used as an adjective and term backwards is always used as an adverb. Thus just remembering these grammatical rules we can make sure that we use these terms correctly.
After knowing the meaning, framed the sentences and acknowledging difference between both the terms let’s now proceed to correct pronunciation of both the terms.
Backward pronounced as bak-wuhrd
Backwards is pronounced as bak-wurdz
Also See: Break versus Brake
Summary
As to quickly summarize what we have learnt in this article first we learned the meaning of both term that term backward is used for both directional and social sense as an adjective and term backwards is always used mostly in directional sense as an adverb. We also framed sentences using both the terms, learnt a simple trick to remember the difference between both the terms and at last we learned about correct pronunciation of both the terms.
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