What’s the difference between beside and besides?

This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: beside and besides.

beside

function playAudio(url) { new Audio(url).play(); }

If one thing is beside another, it is next to it or at the side of it.

Beside the shed was a huge tree.

I sat down beside my wife.

besides

function playAudio(url) { new Audio(url).play(); }

Besides is used as a preposition to mean `in addition to’ or `as well as’.

And besides making vitamin D, sunshine also helps to lower blood pressure.

There was only one person besides Jacques who knew Lorraine.

You can also use besides to introduce a clause beginning with an -ing form.

He writes novels and poems, besides working as a journalist.

Besides being good company, he was always ready to try anything.

Be careful! You must use an -ing­ form in sentences like these. Don’t say, for example, ‘He writes novels and poems besides he works as a journalist.

In addition, you can use besides as an adverb when you are making an additional point or giving an additional reason that you think is important.

I’ll only be gone for five days, and besides, you’ll have fun while I’m away.

The house was too big. Besides, we couldn’t afford it.


Find out more in our English Usage article.

This blogpost is based on Collins COBUILD English Usage, written for learners of English. For more examples of English usage points, please visit:  https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/english-usage.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.

Other Articles

The 8 parts of speech in English

VERBS A verb tells us about an action or a state of being. Ordinary verbs are called main verbs. For example: come, go, think, want, escape, believe. A main verb is sometimes called a ‘doing word’. A special group of verbs are called auxiliary verbs. These can be put together with main verbs to… Read More

Months and Dates

In order to talk confidently about your plans in English, it’s useful to know some essential phrases that relate to months and dates. The months of the year in English are: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. Read More

Formation of past and present tense of English verbs

The present tense of a regular verb is the same as the base form of the verb, except that an -s is added to the verb when it has a noun or he, she, or it as a subject. This form is called the 3rd person singular form. I live in the country. He likes his job. The window looks… Read More