Indifference towards

by **vik123** Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:20 pm

MGMAT idiom list says that "indifference towards" is a correct idiom. Is "indifference to" also acceptable?

1. The World has been indifferent towards the plight of the people in Darfur.
2. The World has been indifferent to the plight of the people in Darfur.

Both seem to be correct.

Also as an aside, I think it does not matter whether we use "towards" or "toward". Since it is just a proposition, adding an "s" does not make it plural or anything. Am I correct?

Thanks,
Vik

by **RonPurewal** Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:19 am

based on completely anecdotal evidence, i would say that "indifferent toward' is better in describing an attitude regarding a particular person/people, while "indifferent to" is better in describing an attitude about a situation.

so, in your darfur example, "indifferent to" is better.

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in american usage, "toward" is the preferred form. ("towards" is more commonly seen in british usage.) since this is merely a regionalism, i doubt that the gmat would actually test it.