Beside and Besides

When it comes to propositions that spell nearly similarly, things become more and more confusing in English grammar. So, in order to brush up on your pronunciation and make things clearer for you, we’ve put together this extensive article on the difference between alongside and besides for you. While reading this essay, try to imagine what the implementation may be like and what kinds of mistakes students might make. Then, from now on, you’ll be more cautious and won’t repeat that error.

Discussion

The meaning of beside

Beside is a preposition in English grammar that has the major usage as the preposition of position. You mostly use this preposition, besides, when referring to someone who is standing near to someone else, just adjacent. Please allow me to explain how this definition works in simple terms. 

If a person is standing by your side (next to you), for example, you will use the preposition beside to explain his location. You will state, “The man is standing beside me,” in a single line. This preposition is extremely typical in everyone’s daily life, especially if you’re standing in the road and attempting to describe the position of someone over there, or if you’re just trying to explain the contents of your room.

The meaning of besides

Now, what does the preposition besides signify to you? It is now critical for you to understand what besides means so that you are not perplexed by their uses. Furthermore, you must remember that the term ‘besides’ is not at all related to any geographical or positional references.

Simply put, it means “in addition to.” Let’s say you have one pen and a pencil. Along with that, you have an eraser in your bag. You may also use the word to explain that you have an eraser in addition to these two. The sentence will be: I have an eraser besides a pen and pencil.

The etymology of the word beside and besides

Etymology of Beside

From Old English be sidan “by the side of” (only as two words) in the c. 1200 era, from be- + sidan dative of side (n.). By 1200, it was a single word that could be employed as an adverb and a preposition. In beyond oneself “out of one’s wits,” the alternate Middle English meaning “outside” is maintained (late 15c.).

Etymology of Besides

From besides (q.v.) + adverbial genitive -s, documented from c. 1200, frequent after c. 1400. Previously including all senses of alongside, it is now restricted to the adverbial sense “in addition to, otherwise.”

Examples of the application of the word besides

• Besides (= in addition to) the eraser, I also have a pencil, pen, and paper
• Besides (= in addition to) its famous pastries, the bakery also makes delicious pieces of bread and cookies
• She wants to learn other languages besides (= in addition to) English and French
• Besides (= in addition to) being handsome, he is also kind and gentle
• Besides (= in addition to) Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai are also the important metropolitan cities of India
• Besides (= in addition to) Angad, Rashmi is also a really intelligent person in the classroom

Examples of the application of the word beside

• You are sitting beside me in the maths class
• Go and stand beside the door, I will be able to recognize you then
• The pen is kept beside the pair,please pick it up
• Don’t snore when you sleep beside me, it disturbs me

The similarities Between Beside and Besides

• Both terms are spelled virtually identically
• The plural of beside appears to be besides
• Both prepositions, beside and besides, are used in this sentence
• The words ‘beside’ and ‘besides’ define what’s adjacent to what, and what’s there apart from a topic
• Many individuals use besides instead of beside in the expression ‘That’s beside the point,’ since we may use both beside and besides depending on the situation
• The terms besides and beside are simply homophones in English Grammar

Conclusion

You should be familiar with the fundamentals of usages and the meanings of the phrases beside and besides by now. As a result, this style of article is most commonly used when discussing a list of articles or anything similar. You must refer to them if you are experiencing any stiffness.