"Besides" "In Addition to" & Also?

Question

Quick and easy question: is it correct or redundant to use "also" with "besides" or "in addition to" in, for example, the following sentences:
"In addiition to being the committee's chairman, John was also its secretary"
"Besides having been the top salesperson dollarwise, Sandra was also the most popular salesperson."
Hmmm, I guess part B of this question could be, "Do the verbs in the clauses of each sentence agree with each other?"
Thanks in advance for your expert analyses.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Tim Burns wrote on 24 Aug 2004:
[nq:1]Quick and easy question: is it correct or redundant to use "also" with "besides" or "in addition to" in, for ... chairman, John was also its secretary" "Besides having been the top salesperson dollarwise, Sandra was also the most popular salesperson."[/nq]
It's also redundantredundant to use "also" with "and", as is so often done in speech and informal writing: *"I'll have a Big Mac, and also an order of fries".
[nq:1]Hmmm, I guess part B of this question could be, "Do the verbs in the clauses of each sentence agree with each other?"[/nq]
The verbs have to agree with their subjects in person and number and be in the proper tense for the sentence as a whole. There is no grammatical problem with your sentences, only the redudancy of "also" and, perhaps, your word choices in the second sentence, but the latter is a question of style and personal opinion, not grammatical judgment.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Quick and easy question: is it correct or redundant to ... top salesperson dollarwise, Sandra was also the most popular salesperson."[/nq]
[nq:1]It's also redundantredundant to use "also" with "and", as is sooften done in speech and informal writing: *"I'll have a Big Mac, andalso an order of fries".[/nq]
Odd that we should disagree about this, Franke, but I don't find any fault with Tim's example uses of "also" if we're talking about informal writing. Certainly, "also" could have been omitted, but the word does add some emphasis to both statements.
In your own sentence, I concur that "also" should be removed probably because there's no "besides" or "in addition" involved. Different structure.
[nq:2]Hmmm, I guess part B of this question could be, "Do the verbsin the clauses of each sentence agree with each other?"[/nq]
The second sentence sounds a bit awkward to me. Maybe "was also" should be "had also been."
[nq:1]The verbs have to agree with their subjects in person and numberand be in the proper tense for the sentence ... perhaps, your word choices in the second sentence, but thelatter is a question of style and personal opinion, not grammaticaljudgment.[/nq]
We agree on the matter of style and personal opinion. What's awkward to some is natural to others.
Maria Conlon

Usenet · Answer

Maria Conlon wrote on 24 Aug 2004:
[nq:2]It's also redundantredundant to use "also" with "and", as is ... have a Big Mac, and also an order of fries".[/nq]
[nq:1]Odd that we should disagree about this, Franke, but I don't find any fault with Tim's example uses of "also" if we're talking about informal writing.[/nq]
As I have stated many times in AUE, anything goes in informal writing and informal speech. In writing that is not formal and scholarly, different rules apply. That doesn't mean that I don't notice how people use the language informally or that I find sloppiness acceptable, though. However, the primary point of language is to communicate (1), so if informal writing and speech communicates effectively enough, then I won't bother coomplaining about it
[nq:1]Certainly, "also" could have been omitted, but the word does add some emphasis to both statements. In your own sentence, I concur that "also" should be removed probably because there's no "besides" or "in addition" involved. Different structure.[/nq]
I put the "also" in for the same reason that I put in "redundantredundant". It is most certainly inappropriate there, and it's also wrongwrongwqrongitywrong, just as it is in this sentence, but this is informal writing, so I won't complain about it.
[nq:1]The second sentence sounds a bit awkward to me. Maybe "was also" should be "had also been."[/nq]
This is a style problem, and either will work given no temporal context.
[nq:2]The verbs have to agree with their subjects in person ... a question of style and personal opinion, not grammatical judgment.[/nq]
[nq:1]We agree on the matter of style and personal opinion. What's awkward to some is natural to others.[/nq]
Ya, du hast rechts.
(1) I will not argue this with anyone who takes a different position, as someone did in response to a like statement of mine in another post within the last year or two.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

"Besides" "In Addition to" & Also?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions