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If there are no differences between them, so I suppose these sentences are correct:

I'm heading the door/car/barbershop.

I'm heading for the door/car/barbershop.

I'm heading to the door/car/barbershop.

I'm heading towards the door/car/barbershop.

Are these sentences interchangeable?

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  • You can't head the door. The other three sentences are fine. All three prepositions can be used after heading.
    – Ronald Sole
    Feb 24, 2017 at 0:15
  • But what about heading the car? is it correct?
    – student
    Feb 24, 2017 at 0:23
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    No, it's wrong. You can head a ball (where this means to hit it with your head) and head the class (which means to be the top student) but when head means to go in the direction of, it requires a preposition. An exception might be such expressions as heading home and heading back..
    – Ronald Sole
    Feb 24, 2017 at 0:28
  • Ok, when talking about directions, you said it needs a preposition, but what can you say about "heading home"? I hear this phrase very often.
    – student
    Feb 24, 2017 at 0:32
  • As I illustrated, there are a number of such expressions. But doors, cars and barber shops are not among them. Heading home is shorthand for heading for home and back is an adverb, not a noun. There are other examples such as head upwards.
    – Ronald Sole
    Feb 24, 2017 at 0:37

2 Answers 2

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I'm heading the door/car/barbershop.

This version isn't correct. As a commenter said, you can't head a door. Note that head is a verb, though. You can head a soccer ball for instance.

I'm heading for the door/car/barbershop.

This version is correct. It has slightly more urgency than the example below. For example, you might say a soccer player is heading for the ball, because they are in a hurry to get there.

I'm heading to the door/car/barbershop.

This version is correct. It implies a longer distance than the other versions. It makes more sense to use this version if your car is parked 3 blocks away, as opposed to in your garage, for example. However, it works fine in all scenarios.

I'm heading towards the door/car/barbershop.

This version is correct. You shouldn't use this version, however, unless you are currently in transit. For example, if you were in your house, planning to go to the barbershop, you wouldn't say you're heading towards the barbershop. But if you're in your car and someone asks you where you're going, it would make sense to say you're heading towards the barbershop.

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I am heading to/for/toward(s) the door/car/barbershop.

All the above prepositions mean much the same.

The Google Ngram Viewer shows that the preposition "for" is used at least ten times more frequently in comparison with the others, the preposition "towards" being used the rarest.

Note: Without a preposition the verb "to head" meaning "to go" can be used very restrictedly as, for example, in "to head north/northwards" or, as was suggested in comments, "upwards" or "inland", etc.

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