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I have a question regarding the usage of "apart from", "other than", "aside from", "except for" and "besides"?

Suppose I have three books X, Y and Z. My friend knows I have Book X. So if he wants to know how many books I have along with X, Which of the above phrases are correct?

  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have besides X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have other than X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have apart from X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have aside from X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have except for X?

I think all of the above are correct but except for. I am not sure. Am I right?

And one more question: Suppose a contractor who paints houses asks me "Hi, sir, do you want to paint your kitchen?" I answer, "No, at the moment; I don't think it needs to be painted." Now in these circumstances, which of the following phrases should the contractor use when asks the next question?

Contractor: Hi, sir, do you want to paint your kitchen?
Me: No, at the moment; I don't think it needs to be painted.
Contractor: Do you want to paint anything in your house other than/except for/apart from/besides your kitchen?

I think besides is not correct here. The rest of all the phrases are correct. I am not sure. Please explain.

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Whereas besides denotes inclusion/adding to, except/except for has the meaning of exclusion and so does other than which means with the exception of.

As for apart from and aside from, they may mean both inclusion and exclusion.

So all your sentences are valid, in my opinion.

(Also, see this video lesson)

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This is a good question as all of these connectives involve separating out a certain element of a set.

  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have besides X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have other than X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have apart from X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have aside from X?
  • Hey Subha, how many books do you have except for X?

I think all of the above are correct but except for. I am not sure. Am I right?

I agree. I think except for can only be used when describing a property that applies to some elements of a set but not others. The Collins COBUILD definition is:

You use except for to introduce the only thing or person that prevents a statement from being completely true.

It implies a negation:

  • I like all snacks except (for) pretzels. => I do not like pretzels.
  • Everyone except (for) Sam attended. => Sam did not attend.

Whereas besides, other than, etc. are about limiting the set under discussion for purposes of the "how many?" question. Excluding would also work here.

Contractor: Hi, sir, do you want to paint your kitchen?
Me: No, at the moment; I don't think it needs to be painted.
Contractor: Do you want to paint anything in your house other than/except for/apart from/besides your kitchen?

In this scenario it would be more natural to say something like: "Are there any other rooms that need painting?" Or, if mentioning the kitchen: "If not the kitchen, do you want me to paint any of the other rooms?" (The kitchen is topical—it was just discussed—so it would be typical to re-mention it at the beginning of the sentence, before the new information asking about other rooms.)

"Is there anything...except for" sounds odd because except for usually accompanies an expression referring to a complete set of items; it would be appropriate if the discussion was about painting all the other rooms:

  • Would you like me to paint all the rooms except for the kitchen?

"Besides your kitchen" could be interpreted as "in addition to your kitchen", which is not the intended meaning. But I could imagine somebody saying it in this scenario. Other than, apart from, aside from also sound OK.

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I was going to comment Victor B.'s great answer but I don't have enough reputation, so I will leave an answer here.

Victor concludes that OP's sentences are all valid, and I agree. However, I feel like OP also wants to ask that if the sentences are (or are not) reasonable, given the scenario he described.

Based on knowledge from Victor's answer, I think OP's right with the painter-kitchen question.
As for the book question, I think not only except for, but also other than should be excluded from the correct answers, since they both have the meaning of exclusion, which is inappropriate in the book scenario.

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