Apart vs. Beside

boron · Oct 3, 2009

Apart (beside) from coronary artery disease, there are several other risk factors for a heart attack.

I was warned not to use beside in sentences, like above. Both, apart and beside mean in addition. So, what would you, American writer, use?

Just for info: Mayoclinic.com and merck.com use no article before () coronary artery disease, and a before heart attack.

alleycat · Oct 3, 2009

This might help: http://www.perfectyourenglish.com/usage/besides.htm

Personally, I would use apart in your example sentence. I would use besides when there is a choice to be made between several related items (Besides green, Becky was given the choice of red, blue, or yellow construction paper.), or there is a closely related list of items (Besides A, there is X, Y, and Z.)

Full disclaimer: I don't claim to be a grammar expert.

boron · Oct 3, 2009

Yes, both are grammatically correct. Statistically (if Google is statistic tool), apart is prefered in US.

alleycat · Oct 3, 2009

To me, there is a very subtle difference between apart and besides. I can't quote an authority offhand, so it might just be me. I think of apart as being an unstated apart from construction; that is, something different in a material way from the first item, while besides is related to a besides this, there are also these type of construction. It's very hard to actually explain this.

Again, please don't quote me, anyone, I may very well be wrong about this.

boron · Oct 3, 2009

alleycat said:
I think of apart as being an unstated apart from construction; that is, something similar but different from the first item, while besides is related to a besides this, there are also these type of construction.

I feel the same. I've decided to use apart in my above example, since I list things "from the same category". Besides sounds like mentioning "something other" what is also important but not directly related to the first item.

alleycat · Oct 3, 2009

As for which is preferred in the US, I don't think most people would notice the difference or care as long as a sentence reads (sounds) correct (besides is certainly used here). There are some grammar issues where the difference in UK and US usage is particularly noticeable; I don't think this is one of them.

PeterL · Oct 3, 2009

Either would be correct. Personally, I think that "In addition to coronary..." would be better.

alleycat · Oct 3, 2009

PeterL said:
Either would be correct. Personally, I think that "In addition to coronary..." would be better.

I think you're right.

boron · Oct 3, 2009

PeterL said:
Either would be correct. Personally, I think that "In addition to coronary..." would be better.

Agree.

ideagirl · Oct 4, 2009

boron said:
Apart (beside) from coronary artery disease, there are several other risk factors for a heart attack.

Beside doesn't work in that sentence at all. The word you're probably thinking of is "aside," not "beside." You can't say "beside from," and in any case, "beside" means physically located next to. You may be thinking of "besides," which means "apart from," but in a second I'll explain why that doesn't work. Your options here are:

Apart from coronary...
Aside from coronary...

"Besides" is not really one of your options, because in this type of construction--where you're using it as a synonym for "apart from"--a native speaker would flip the sentence around and put "besides" in the middle, not at the beginning: "There are several other risk factors for a heart attack besides coronary artery disease."

girlyswot · Oct 4, 2009

ideagirl said:
Beside doesn't work in that sentence at all. The word you're probably thinking of is "aside," not "beside." You can't say "beside from," and in any case, "beside" means physically located next to. You may be thinking of "besides," which means "apart from," but in a second I'll explain why that doesn't work. Your options here are:

Apart from coronary...
Aside from coronary...

"Besides" is not really one of your options, because in this type of construction--where you're using it as a synonym for "apart from"--a native speaker would flip the sentence around and put "besides" in the middle, not at the beginning: "There are several other risk factors for a heart attack besides coronary artery disease."

Sure you could. 'Besides coronary heart disease, there are several other...' Nothing wrong with that.

boron · Oct 4, 2009

girlyswot said:
'Besides coronary heart disease, there are several other...' Nothing wrong with that.

This is what I thought, yes. And you say, word order is correct?

Also, you all used besides - this is something American? By one explanation besides means in addition, and beside next to. Now what?

ideagirl · Oct 5, 2009

girlyswot said:
Sure you could. 'Besides coronary heart disease, there are several other...' Nothing wrong with that.

Except that it's on the informal side, and Boron is writing, if I recall correctly, at a formal level. I doubt you'd see constructions like "Besides coronary artery disease, there are several other..." at MayoClinic.com and similar sites. Their tone (again if I recall correctly) is what Boron is going for.

ideagirl · Oct 5, 2009

boron said:
Also, you all used besides - this is something American? By one explanation besides means in addition, and beside next to.

By all explanations, Boron. See your handy dandy dictionary for confirmation.

boron · Oct 6, 2009

ideagirl said:
Except that it's on the informal side, and Boron is writing, if I recall correctly, at a formal level. I doubt you'd see constructions like "Besides coronary artery disease, there are several other..." at MayoClinic.com and similar sites. Their tone (again if I recall correctly) is what Boron is going for.

I want to use a language spoken in a doctor's office. I want a 12 year old Indian with his English understands me.

Mayos use forcedly informal language on purpose. Their site is full of besides.

By all explanations, Boron. See your handy dandy dictionary for confirmation.

When I was writing my above posts, I've used a handy dictionary.com (and checked in other dicts), from which I was not able to differ between beside and besides.

Then I've realized from a dandy Google, that a routine in American health websites is:

Beside is used as next to
Besides is used as in addition
Apart is used as 6 hours apart

I use this forum to prevent myself to sound strange. You can't always figure out things from dictionaries...

Apart vs. Beside

boron

Health writer

alleycat

Still around

boron

Health writer

alleycat

Still around

boron

Health writer

alleycat

Still around

PeterL

alleycat

Still around

boron

Health writer

ideagirl

girlyswot

boron

Health writer

ideagirl

ideagirl

boron

Health writer