beside

beside — preposition

1. in a position right next to and touching, or very close to, a person or thing.

1.介系詞A2
釋義

in a position right next to and touching, or very close to, a person or thing.

例句

Kenji put his wet umbrella beside the front door.

beside + concrete object showing physical position

The little boy sat quietly beside his grandfather on the bench.

同義詞
  • next to

    more common in speech; same physical meaning

  • alongside

    suggests parallel position, often for moving things or longer objects

  • by

    shorter and very common; slightly less precise about touching

反義詞
  • away from

    indicates distance rather than closeness

文法句型

beside + noun phrase

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 2: this physical-position sense almost always pairs with concrete objects (a bed, a door, a person), while sense 2 (compared to) usually appears in evaluative contexts about quality, size, or value.

常見錯誤

❌I sat beside to my brother.
✅I sat beside my brother.
💡'beside' is followed directly by the noun, never by 'to'.
❌Put your bag beside of the chair.
✅Put your bag beside the chair.
💡no 'of' after 'beside'.

2. when you put one thing next to another in your mind to judge their qualities, of

2.介系詞B2
釋義

when you put one thing next to another in your mind to judge their qualities, often to show that one looks small, weak, or poor by comparison.

例句

Beside her older sister, Anna seemed shy and very young.

fronted 'beside + NP' for comparison

My salary looks tiny beside what the manager earns each month.

comparison of size or amount

同義詞

文法句型

beside + noun phrase used in comparison

用法筆記

Frequently fronts the sentence ('Beside X, Y is …') or follows an evaluative adjective ('small / weak / cheap beside …'). Do not confuse with 'besides', which means 'in addition to'.

常見錯誤

❌Besides his brother, he looks short.' (when meaning a comparison)
✅Beside his brother, he looks short.
💡drop the 's': 'besides' means 'in addition to', not 'compared with'.
❌My car is cheap beside with his.
✅My car is cheap beside his.
💡no 'with' after 'beside'.

3. having nothing to do with the actual topic being discussed, so the matter does n

3.介系詞C2
釋義

having nothing to do with the actual topic being discussed, so the matter does not really matter to the argument.

例句

In the meeting, Jamal told the team that Otto's salary was beside the point.

beside the point: dismisses an irrelevant detail

The judge stopped the lawyer and said the witness's clothes were beside the point.

同義詞
反義詞

文法句型

beside the point / beside the question

用法筆記

Almost always appears in the fixed phrase 'beside the point' (or, more formally, 'beside the question'). Use it to push back when someone raises a fact that does not affect the argument.

常見錯誤

❌His age is besides the point.
✅His age is beside the point.
💡the idiom uses 'beside' (no 's').
❌That is beside of the point.
✅That is beside the point.
💡no 'of' between 'beside' and 'the point'.