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Nightedge Sep 3rd, 2015 01:00 pm

interpretations
 
Do agree with me?

-Students have different interpretations __ life.

I think 'towards' gives the impression of hesitation; 'of' would mean they are braver in making interpretations.

susan53 Sep 4th, 2015 07:03 am

Re: interpretations
 
It would be more usual to use interpretation in the singular (each student has their own interpretation of life), but that's a minor point. Interpretation(s) is always followed by of when the object of the interpretation is involved - not toward(s) Checking both the singular and plural with the concordancer Lextutor I got 51 examples of interpretation(s) of and none at all of interpretation(s) toward(s).

It has nothing to do with meaning - it's a matter of usage. Don't be misled by examples you might find on Google. If you look carefully you'll find that where there are examples of interpretation(s) toward(s), either the text was written by a non-native speaker or that there is another reason for the choice of towards - usually because it's dependent on a verb or noun expressing movement or direction - eg :

Ecocritical readings regularly push literary interpretations towards the frontier...

Multiple perspectives move historical interpretations toward a more balanced approach to understanding painful histories.


Here, the writers are not talking about the object of the interpretation, but its direction.

Nightedge Sep 4th, 2015 01:06 pm

Re: interpretations
 
Excellent answer. Thank you.


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