Meaning & use
southward
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
Toward the south.
Grammar: Goes after a verb: they traveled southward.
Patterns
- head southward
- move southward
The birds fly southward every autumn.
We drove southward along the coast.
The river flows southward into the bay.
adjectivebefore a noun
Facing or moving in the direction of the south.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a southward journey.
Patterns
- a southward journey
Their southward journey took three days.
A southward breeze cooled the evening.
The southward route avoids the mountains.
Common combinations
- head southward
- The convoy headed southward at dawn.
- flow southward
- The river flows southward to the sea.
- migrate southward
- Many birds migrate southward in winter.
- southward journey
- The southward journey was long and tiring.
- spread southward
- The fire spread southward through the valley.
Synonyms and how they differ
- southwards
- Is an equal alternative form of the adverb, common in British English.
- south
- Is shorter and can be an adverb, adjective or noun, so it is more flexible.
- southerly
- Describes a wind from the south or a direction toward it, and is not used the same way for travel.
Opposites
Word family
- south noun
- the direction opposite north
- southern adjective
- in or from the south
- southerner noun
- a person from the south
- southwards adverb
- another form of southward
Commonly confused: southward or southerly?
southward vs southerly
Southerly usually describes winds from the south, while southward means traveling toward the south.
Practice
Each autumn the geese fly ___ to find warmer weather.
Choose one answer.
They go toward the south to escape the cold. Northward would take them to colder places.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “southward”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.