7

Speaker A: So what's your plan for later?

Speaker B: Besides/aside from continuing to wear this chicken costume? Nothing much.

What's the correct choice in this case. And why?

(Or maybe I should use apart?)

3
  • 3
    I asked a couple of people who teach writing. They say "besides" in conversation but would write "Aside from" in anything even slightly formal :)
    – TimR
    May 12, 2015 at 14:38
  • I would use "other than".
    – user3169
    May 12, 2015 at 20:55
  • There's nothing wrong with "apart from", either. May 13, 2015 at 8:19

2 Answers 2

4

Please see the usage note of besides

For the meanings "in addition to" and "except for" besides should be used:

Besides replacing the back stairs, she fixed the broken banister.

So your example should be written as follows:

Besides continuing to wear this chicken costume? Nothing much.

EDIT:

As for the aside from and apart from, they both are equally correct, so you can use them all interchangeable.

Good read here and here.

4
  • 1
    "Besides" is correct, but "Aside from" and "Apart from" are also both equally correct. I think this answer may be misleading to learners if you don't mention the other two options at all. :)
    – Keiki
    May 12, 2015 at 13:07
  • @Keiki, thanks a lot for the correction! I just missed it!:) May 12, 2015 at 14:58
  • Are “aside from” and “besides” exchangeable in this case?
    – JJJohn
    Sep 16, 2019 at 1:00
  • Let set_A (mathematically) denote the plan, is "aside from" here indicating that the option "continuing to wear this chicken costume" belongs to the set_A?
    – JJJohn
    Sep 16, 2019 at 1:06
2

It's besides. There is lots of correct words to put there. But the best one in my opinion is besides.

Let's look what else could we put there:

other than: Other than continuing to wear this chicken costume? Nothing much.
apart from: Apart from continuing to wear this chicken costume? Nothing much.
in addition to: In addition to continuing to wear this chicken costume? Nothing much.

Meanings of the two words:

beside:
1. at the side of; next to.
2. in addition to; apart from.

aside:
1. to one side; out of the way.

As you see the second meaning of "beside" fits perfectly to the sentence.

2
  • Are “aside from” and “besides” exchangeable in this case?
    – JJJohn
    Sep 16, 2019 at 1:00
  • Let set_A (mathematically) denote the plan, is "aside from" here indicating that the option "continuing to wear this chicken costume" belongs to the set_A?
    – JJJohn
    Sep 16, 2019 at 1:07

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .