It is very easy to get confused in the spelling of the Russian language when it comes to homonyms. "Besides" or "besides"? This question is often asked not only by foreigners, but also by native speakers themselves. It must be said that in this case it is hardly possible to understand intuitively without going into the details of grammar, context and the corresponding rules. For those who are already frightened by the abundance of information and complex algorithms, there is very good news: there are many ways to distinguish "besides" from "besides", and not all of them require in-depth knowledge of the Russian language.
Part of Speech
Those who study the Russian language more seriously than just at the amateur level know that different parts of speech perform different functions in a sentence, and knowing these functions helps a lot to write the same-sounding words correctly.
So, "besides", if it is written together, is a union. A union is a non-independent part of speech that does nothas its own semantic load and is not a full-fledged member of the sentence. Like all other unions, "besides" serves for the grammatical and semantic connection of words, phrases or parts of a sentence with each other.
"Besides" is a two-part phrase. "At" is a preposition. Just like unions, prepositions are non-independent parts of speech and cannot be members of a sentence. "That" is a demonstrative pronoun that can exist in the sense of an attribute or object. Most often, the construction "while" is found at the junction of simple sentences as part of a complex sentence with the meaning of a condition or concession.
Replacement
For those who find it difficult to analyze a sentence from a grammatical point of view, there is a convenient alternative. The fact is that you can determine how to write - "moreover" or "moreover", by substituting the corresponding analogues in the sentence instead of these words.
The union "besides" is replaced by synonymous expressions "besides", "and besides", "in addition". For example:
| Before replacement | After replacement |
| Children found large, ripe strawberries in the forest, and incredibly sweet and juicy. | Children found large, ripe strawberries in the forest, and in addition incredibly sweet and juicy. |
| My friend hired a wonderful worker: smart, responsible, dexterous and, moreover, surprisingly diligent. | My friend hired a great worker: smart, responsible, dexterous and, moreover, amazingly diligent. |
| I'm afraid I will have to fire you: you are irresponsible, do not turn in your work on time, and are constantly late and reread. | I'm afraid I'll have to fire you: you're irresponsible, you don't turn in your work on time, and you're constantly late and reread. |
In turn, the phrase "with that" in the meaning of the complement is conveniently replaced by the synonymous expression "considering" or "despite the fact".
| Before replacement | After replacement |
| He is rather modest, despite being rich. | He is rather modest despite being rich. |
| I can't help but commend your accomplishments, despite the fact that you helped me out of a difficult situation more than once. | I can't help but commend your accomplishments, given that you've helped me out of a difficult situation more than once. |
In cases where "with that" is used as a definition, the phrase "near that" is suitable for replacement and checking for separate spelling.
| Before replacement | After replacement |
| The city administration allocated money to build a park at the museum that tourists like so much. | The city administration allocated money to build a park near the museum that tourists like so much. |
Having the word "what"
Somedictionaries insist on the existence of the union "besides that", the continuous or separate spelling of which is determined from the context. However, in practice, such a situation, where its use would be appropriate, is simply impossible to meet. Therefore, the word "what" can serve as a very definite pointer to how "besides" is spelled. If the sentence contains the word "what" following the phrase "however", it must be written separately. Like in the following case:
I can't refuse to help him, despite the fact that he helped me out so many times
If the word "what" is not in the sentence, then most likely you need to write "moreover" together. Here is an example of a sentence with the word "besides," without the word "what":
The rain was long, wet, and very cold
Many such examples are easy to find in fiction. In fact, choosing between "with" or "besides" is easy enough to use this method, but it can also be considered the most dubious.
Meaning
The union "besides" is used in the meaning of attachment, addition, clarification. The phrase "at the same time" is closer in meaning to a condition or a concession; the question "What does it mean?" can be posed to it. For example:
- The authorities did not like him for his irresponsibility and arrogance, moreover, he was not famous for his seriousness either. ("Moreover" is the value of attachment).
- The authorities did not like him even though he was famous for his seriousness. ("While" is the meaning of the condition or concession).
Summing up
There are four ways not to misspell "besides" or "besides":
- As part of speech - conjunction or pronoun with a preposition.
- Replaceable.
- By the presence of the word "what".
- By value.
Any of them can be used with confidence. In addition, being not sure of the correct spelling of "besides" or "besides", you can confirm one rule with another and bring the choice of the correct option to automatism.
