Beside Vs Besides

Beside Vs Besides

It is easy to confuse beside and besides, but they are not one and the same thing.

Beside

Beside is a preposition.

It means “at the side of” or “next to”.

Example-

     ·        He stood beside his new car proudly.

     ·        A temple stood beside the church.

     ·        The girl came and sat beside her mom.

     ·        I keep a dictionary beside me when I am writing.

Besides

Besides can be used either as a preposition or an adverb.

Besides as a preposition- As a preposition, besides means “ in addition to” , “apart from”, “more over” or “as well”, depending on the context.

     

     ·        We need some milk besides fruits and vegetables.

     ·        There is a blue hat in the closet besides belt and tie.

Besides as a linking adverb- As an adverb, besides means “furthermore”. We usually put a comma after besides in writing.

Example-

     ·        I can’t afford to buy this dress. Besides, I don’t really wear sleeveless one.

     ·        This flat is too expensive. Besides, I don’t really like top floor.

     (Besides is an adverb in these sentences. It means furthermore.)

Besides as a synonym for “except” or “excluding”

     ·        Besides me, everyone likes tea in the family.

     ·        Besides him, all the invitees have attended the party.

Besides introducing a Noun Clause-  Besides often introduces a noun clause.

     ·        Besides what you said, we must consider what she said.

     ·        Besides what we have in stock, you must take what he gives.

Exercises-

Fill in the blanks with beside/ besides:

     

    1)   There will be four of us for dinner besides John.

    2)   She has no relatives besides her grandmother.

    

    3)   Come and sit beside me.

    

    4)   What other projects are you working on besides this?

    

    5)   I like to sit beside my friend.

    6)   She stays at home and doesn’t know much besides cooking.

    7)   Your locker is beside my locker.

    8)   Can you write something besides these stories? (i.e., apart from stories)

    9)   Besides, I doubt her mom will let her come for the party.

    10)  Your car is beside my doll house.

    11)  I could barely see any animal besides deer during jungle safari. (i.e., apart from deer)

    12)  There are three other Gujrati families in the township besides us. (i.e. apart from us)

    13)  I like to sit beside my best friend.

    14)  Will you sit beside me at dinner?

    15)  My father keeps a book on the stool just beside his bed.

    16)  The barn beside the farmer’s house was falling down.

    17)  Our school is built just beside a community hall.

    18)  Nany knelt down beside the child for the photo.

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