[Grammar] He turned to him or he turned towards him

[Sneymarin]

Hello, I would like some help in figuring out wheter to use turned to or turned towards in sentences such as this one: "He suddently turned to/towards John and stared at him."
Thank you for your time.

 

[Skrej]

Either is okay, and there's little if any difference. You could leave the preposition off and just stick to the verb 'turn'. It's understood that to stare at somebody, you have to face them (i.e. turn to/turn towards).

He suddenly turned and stared at John.

 

[Sneymarin]

Either is okay, and there's little if any difference. You could leave the preposition off and just stick to the verb 'turn'. It's understood that to stare at somebody, you have to face them (i.e. turn to/turn towards).

He suddenly turned and stared at John.

Would this still be okay if the sentence was only "He suddently turned to/towards John", without the staring part?

 

[Skrej]

"He suddenly turned to/towards John"

If you are asking if the above is correct, then yes, you can still use either 'to' or 'towards' with no difference.

 

[Rover_KE]

I would like some help in figuring out whether to use "turned to" or "turned towards" ..."

Please note my corrections to your punctuation.

 

[jutfrank]

Would this still be okay if the sentence was only "He suddently turned to/towards John", without the staring part?

The prepositions to and towards are different prepositions with different uses, so of course there would a difference of effect.

 

[Sneymarin]

The prepositions to and towards are different prepositions with different uses, so of course there would a difference of effect.

The effect I want to express in my sentence is: "He turned 'in the direction of' John." I think it would be best to use "towards" instead of "to" as replacement to "in the direction of". Could you tell me if I'm right?

 

[jutfrank]

Use towards if you want to emphasise the direction.

Otherwise, use Skrej's suggestion in post #2.