Beside & besides

Besides and beside are two words that are often confused. Grammatically, besides is an adverb or a preposition, and beside a preposition.

Beside

Beside means next to:

• A house beside the sea
• She sat beside her friend.

Besides

As a preposition, besides means in addition to or apart from

• What are you studying besides English? (in addition to)
• Who was there besides Jon? (apart from)

As an adverb, besides means as well or furthermore.

• He was scruffy and badly prepared. Besides, he turned up late for the interview.