Going forward or going forwards?

It's bugging me

Didn't find your answer?

"I think we should adopt this approach going forward"

"I think we should adopt this approach going forwards"

And yes, I'd imagine Google would help, but I thought I'd ask here :)

Replies (12)

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By SteveHa
19th Apr 2017 16:14

I'd say "Forward". Forwards suggest going more than one forward at a time (and even worse would be "forward's" suggesting that it belongs to forward)

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By mrme89
19th Apr 2017 16:21

It depends if you have more than one forward, surely ;-)

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By Mr_awol
19th Apr 2017 16:22

Personally id use forward thinking when going forwards

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
19th Apr 2017 16:32

I also vote for forward, just sounds more natural.

If one reverses the sentence to,

"Going forward I think we should adopt this approach"

and then

"Going forwards I think we should adopt this approach"

it is not so apparent, but I do still think forward wins by a whisker.

But with English , like everything else, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If I had done English Language at uni ,as well as English Lit, I might have been able to explain why , in technical terms, but as I did not all I can comment is that to my ear its cadence flows more naturally and emphasizes the underlying purposeful air that the harder sounding d ending imparts to the word, counterpoised with the soft s of forwards.

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By Dick Stastey
19th Apr 2017 16:41

"Going forward", but "moving forwards". That is the reason for your confusion.

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By Accountant A
19th Apr 2017 16:57

A rare occasion when I agree with the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2011/aug/30/mind-yo...

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Replying to Accountant A:
Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Apr 2017 17:51
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Replying to stepurhan:
Quack
By Constantly Confused
20th Apr 2017 09:28

stepurhan wrote:

Dilbert found the phrase partially helpful.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/21/ed/37/21ed3719694dbf586c791...

Every few years I read the entire back catalog of Dilbert and each time I find dozens of things relevant to the intervening years. It warms my heart that my problems and office related grief are bordering on universal :)

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
19th Apr 2017 17:45

Does using quotation marks exonerate one from using correct punctuation within the quote?

It should be either:
"I think we should adopt this approach, going forward" or "I think we should adopt this approach, going forwards" or perhaps better still, "Going forward, I think we should adopt this approach".

Another Americanism which irritates me is "Theresa May declared a general election Tuesday" rather than "Theresa May declared a general election on Tuesday".

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Apr 2017 17:49

Originally forward was an adjective, and forwards was an adverb.

But language marches on (forward/s?), and both seem to be interchangeable now. (A Google search for definitions will get you precisely the same for both in any case)

My personal vote is for forward though.

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Out of my mind
By runningmate
20th Apr 2017 04:04

I'm going to be typing (and thinking) inside the box here. I'm done with pushing the envelope - I posted my brother's birthday card last week - and as it is the middle of the night don't expect any blue sky thinking from me right now.
So, going backwards, I think an s is required. Merely going backward sounds like a lack of intelligence.
RM

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By slipknot08
20th Apr 2017 13:06

Definitely 'going forward' here :-)

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