Beside vs Besides

“Beside” and “besides” are often confused because they sound similar, but they have different uses. Here’s the distinction between beside and besides:

• Beside (preposition) means “next to” or “at the side of.”
  • Example: He sat beside me during the meeting.
• Besides has two uses:
  • As a preposition, it means “in addition to” or “apart from.”
    • Example: Besides English, she also speaks Spanish.
  • As an adverb, it means “furthermore” or “in any case.”
    • Example: I don’t like coffee; besides, it keeps me awake at night.

So, the choice between “beside” and “besides” depends on the context. Here’s a quick summary to help differentiate:

• Use beside when talking about physical location or position.
• Use besides when you’re adding information, indicating an exception, or meaning “in addition to.”

To make it clearer:

• If you can replace the word with “next to,” use beside.
• If you can replace it with “in addition to” or “apart from,” use besides.

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