I know that the sentence 'She threw a stone to me' is grammatically correct, but would the sentence 'She threw a stone toward me' be correct?
Thank you for your help!
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Please include the sentence in the title in the body of your question.– SovereignSunApr 10, 2017 at 10:57
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I have done it just now, but could you answer my question now?– user19424Apr 10, 2017 at 10:58
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Does this help? Note that "She threw a stone towards my direction," "She threw a stone to me," and "She threw a stone at me" all mean different things. To help you decide which is correct, we need more context and an explanation of what you're looking for. Meanwhile, I would say, from "towards" to "to" to "at," the throwing is getting more personal (for me) with each preposition.– Teacher KSHuangApr 10, 2017 at 11:15
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@TeacherKSHuang "She threw a stone towards my direction" is not correct. It would have to be "She threw a stone towards me". "Towards" already indicates "in the direction of", so that first sentence would mean "in the direction of my direction"!– Luke SawczakJun 16, 2017 at 14:42
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3 Answers
Depending on the speaker's intention and context, yes "She threw a stone toward me" may well be correct. You could have any of the following.
I was playing with a slingshot but had run out of ammunition. I yelled to my friend Sally, who was standing on a pile of small pieces of quartz. And:
She threw a stone to me (which I caught and inserted into my slingshot)
Same situation, but now Sally is useless at throwing things and so:
She threw a stone toward me (but it fell short and I had to walk over to pick it up)
And then perhaps I was continually asking Sally for stones, so much so that should got annoyed at me and:
She threw a stone in my direction (and glared at me as if to say "Next time it'll be your head, bro")
And finally, if I ignored the warning:
She threw a stone at me (and I had to duck sharply to avoid getting it right between the eyes!)
Toward/towards means in the direction of.
She didn't throw the stone to you or at you, she threw it in your direction.
answered Apr 10, 2017 at 10:59
It is correct, yes. And as @SovereignSun indicated, it means that she threw it in your direction. "Toward" (or towards) here indicates that the stone didn't reach you, (though it still might in the future).
What do I mean by it still might in the future? Consider this passage:
"Just as she was fading from view, the tired deity gave one final exertion. She threw the accursed book towards the sun. And all these millennia later, it is still flying through space, readying itself for the day that it will finally, finally burn."
