In today’s lesson we’ll have a look at how to say toward or towards in French. We’ll actually look at two words in this post: vers and envers. The general rule is that vers is used for towards a place or around a time and envers is used for people. Let’s jump right into the example sentences!
vers, envers
towards
Vers, Envers Meaning & Translation
According to Wiktionary.org, the French word vers comes from the Latin word versus (towards, in the direction of).
Towards, in the direction of
The most common use of vers is “towards” or “in the direction of” a place. The reflexive verb se diriger vers means “to head towards (or for)”. In the example sentence below we use the verb marcher (to walk), which we covered in detail in this recent post.
Je marche vers la plage.
I’m walking towards the beach.
Around + time
Another common use of vers is around + time. In this context, translations of vers include: around, about, at around and at about. This example sentence uses the preposition chez (at the place/home of), which we explained in this post.
Nous arrivons chez vous vers midi.
We arriving at your place around noon.
Towards + people
These final two example sentences use envers + people. Translations of envers are “towards” and simply “to”.
Les parents sont très généreux envers leurs enfants.
The parents are very generous towards their kids.
Les profs sont parfois trop sévères envers les étudiants.
Teachers are sometimes too strict towards the students.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! You now know exactly how to use vers and envers in French! My friend, Camille, at French Today does an amazing job covering French prepositions. Check out her post covering the 19 prepositions used in the French with audio!
