Beside vs. Besides: Is there a Difference?

Are you beside yourself trying to figure out the usage of beside vs. besides? Well, you’re not alone. Here’s a blog that will help you differentiate between beside vs. besides and use them in the right context.

Difference between beside and besides

Beside is a preposition that indicates physical proximity or a close relationship between two objects or people. It is often used to describe the location of one thing next to another. For example, in a laboratory, a microscope might be beside a computer, or a researcher might stand beside a test tube rack.

On the other hand, besides is an adverb that means “in addition to” or “apart from.” It is used to introduce additional information or ideas to a sentence, often to indicate that the following statement is unrelated to the preceding one. In research writing, besides can be used to introduce an alternative perspective, offer additional evidence, or suggest a different conclusion. For instance, besides having the data, the student also had the proof.

Using beside in a sentence

Here are a few examples of sentences that use beside:

• The control group was tested beside the experimental group.
• The data was collected from the participants sitting beside each other.
• The test tubes were placed beside the centrifuge for easy access.

Using besides in a sentence

Here are some besides sentence examples:

• Besides his work in neuroscience, Dr. Smith also has a background in computer science.
• Besides the data collected from the surveys, we also conducted in-depth interviews.
• Besides the statistical analysis, the study also included a qualitative analysis of the data.

In conclusion, beside vs. besides are two words that have distinct meanings and are used in different contexts. There are many more such confusing words that you may come across in the field of research, for instance, you vs. you’re, dose vs. dosage, or week vs. weak; if you do, make sure you give these articles a read!