other than

Question

Hi teachers,1.  I have never known him to behave other than selfishly.'Him' has behaved selfishly.2.  Apart from/aside from the final track, all of the songs on the album were written by her.     Can 'other than' and 'beside' be used instead of 'apart from/aside from'?ThanksTN

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I'll answer your questions in the affirmative.
I'm not sure what you're getting at with " 'Him" has behaved selfishly."

Also, I'm not sure about "beside" vs "besides." I'll have to look it up.
I'm inclined to use "besides."

Rgdz, A.

(Ha! I just moderated and approved my own post!)

You need "besides" in your example.

http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/Beside.htm

CalifJim · Answer

tinanam01021. I have never known him to behave other than selfishly.'Him' has behaved selfishly.

He ('him') has behaved only selfishly, as far as I knowis a better paraphrase, but yes, you have the crux of it.

tinanam0102Apart from/aside from the final track

Here are the possibilities:

[Apart from / Other than / Aside from / Besides] the final track

beside (without 's') has a different meaning, namely, 'near and to the side of'. Come and sit beside me.

It's unusual in English for a final 's' to make such a big difference in meaning, but there you have it!

CJ

An old rhyme that most children in the English-speaking world learn.

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi CalifJim,

I think because of my mother tongue having a great influence on my second language, I get confused when 'other than' can also mean 'except', although I understand now that 'other than' is usually used in negative sentences.

Do these two sentences have the same meaning?

I have never known him to behave except selfishly.
I have never known him to behave other than selfishly.

Is 'other than' a preposition, or an adjective?

Thanks
TN

CalifJim · Answer

tinanam0102Do these two sentences have the same meaning? I have never known him to behave except selfishly. I have never known him to behave other than selfishly.

Yes. Those are the same in meaning. I'm really not good at deciding parts of speech, but I'd say that 'other than' works just like 'except', which is a preposition, so I'd call it a preposition, not an adjective.

CJ

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi CJ,

Thanks a lot on this topic.
Have a great day.
TN

other than

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