turn back

Meaning

To 'turn back' means to stop a journey and return in the direction you came from, usually because of bad weather, danger, or an obstacle. It can also mean to force someone else to return.

Examples

• The snowstorm was so bad that we had to turn back.

  The snowstorm was so bad that we had to turn back.

• We had gone too far to turn back now.

  We had gone too far to turn back now.

• The border guards turned back the travelers who didn't have visas.

  The border guards turned back the travelers who didn't have visas.

• If you get lost, just turn back and meet us at the car.

  If you get lost, just turn back and meet us at the car.

• The hikers decided to turn back before it got dark.

  The hikers decided to turn back before it got dark.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We turned back to home.

  ✓ We turned back home.

  'Home' does not take the preposition 'to' when used as an adverb of direction with verbs of motion like 'turn back'.

• ✗ The police turned back us at the gate.

  ✓ The police turned us back at the gate.

  When 'turn back' is used transitively with a pronoun object (us), the pronoun must go between 'turn' and 'back'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The road was blocked by a landslide, so we had to ___.

  💡 reverse direction and go home

  Show answer

  turn back

• It's getting late; we should probably ___ before the sun sets.

  💡 return the way we came

  Show answer

  turn back