Beside or beside means next to or standing near--
No, put the lamp beside the table.
He stood beside her through the whole ceremony.
Besides or besides means with the means except or with the exception of---
Does anyone besides Dad want anchovies on the pizza?
Besides also means ( informally ) in addition to, or over and above--
We get benefits besides our pay.
It's not far to the store, besides, I'm going that way anyway.
Now that you know that, you can say--
"Will anyone besides my mom stand beside me?
Note--"beside him" means next to him--
She stood beside him throughout the ceremony.
"Besides him" means except for him--
No one noticed, besides him.
Not to be confused with "bedside", meaning at the side of the bed of someone who is sick--
The new doctor has a terrible bedside manner.
She sat at the child's bedside night and day, until he recovered.
Words that sound the same when we speak may actually be two different words--which matters when we write them down. Spellcheck cannot help with this--it will show each word and the writer has to choose--to disambiguate them, if you will. I intend to update this daily, with another set of words it is possible to confuse, beginning with the simplest and most important. Questions and comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label besides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label besides. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
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