Difference Between By and Besides (With Table)

Grammar helps assign the fundamentals for an impressive presentation of communicative skills. It comprises of the framework, methodology, and construct of a language. Sentences begin to make sense solely after grammar has been properly used.

By vs Besides

The main difference between by and besides is that the word ‘By’ is often used as a noun, a preposition, an adverb, and an adjective whereas the word ‘beside’ is often used as a preposition and an adverb.


 

Comparison Table Between By and Besides (in Tabular Form)

Parameter of Comparison

By

Beside

Meaning

The word ‘by’ is often used in relevance to time, place, or action and refers to an individual or thing doing something. For example: The train went right by Mr. Sharma without stopping at the station.

The word ‘beside’ can be used solely in relevance to place and refers to indicating something next to something or somebody.

Grammatical form

By can be used as a preposition, adverb, noun, adjective and, interjection.

‘Beside’ can be treated only as a preposition and an adverb in a sentence.

Usage in daily life

The word ‘by’ is considered to be informal preposition and is used most commonly in our day to day conversations.

The word ‘beside’ is considered to be a formal proposition and is not commonly used in day to day conversations.

As a preposition

By as a preposition refers to nearby a particular person or thing. For example: The fair was beside the park.

‘Beside’ can be used as a preposition to denote something close to a particular thing or person. For example: Monica sat beside Chandler for lunch.

Specification

The word ‘by’ is considered to be vague which means it is more uncertain or indefinite.

Beside is considered to be more specific and does not consist of any vagueness.

 

When to Use By?

‘By’ can be used to specify a time, place, or a doer of an event. The word ‘by’ can be used as a preposition, noun, adverb, adjective and, interjection in the English language. The word ‘by’ refers to recognizing the doer performing an event.

General rules to follow when to use the word ‘by’:

  • The word ‘by’ can be used with a phrase in a passive sentence to indicate if someone has done the action.

For example: The new shopping mall at my locality was inaugurated by the chief minister of the state.

  • To describe the way to do a particular action, the by+-ing form is used in a sentence.

For example: By powering the generator you can switch on the lights.

  • By can be used to talk about when an event is happening.

For example:  The burglar broke into the house by jumping over the fence.

  • ‘By’ can be used to talk about authors of books, poems, etc.

For example: What’s the name of the new book written by William Shakespeare?

  •  ‘By’ can often be used to talk about quantitative measures or numbers:

For example: The price of gold has gone up by 15%.

  • The word ‘by’ can be used in a sentence to denote when the doer of an action travels from one place to another.

For example: They traveled 5000 miles by plane just to meet us.

  • ‘By’ can be used after the adjectives:

For example: I was inspired by the speech delivered by the Mayor.

  • The word ‘by’ can be used to talk about yourself or someone doing an action alone.

For example: I went to the market by myself and purchased some groceries.

 

When to Use Besides?

The word ‘beside’ can be used as a preposition and an adverb. The word ‘beside’ can be used to denote only a place or a location. The word ‘beside’ typically means the side of something or someone.

General rules to follow when to use the word ‘beside’:

  • The word ‘beside the point’ can be used as a phrase in a sentence.

For example: The talk show host was talking about a topic that was completely beside the point.

  • The word ‘beside oneself’ can be used in a state of excitement.

For example: Shreya was beside herself with excitement.

  • The word ‘beside’ can be used as ‘at the side of’ in a sentence:

For example: I keep my diary beside my bed.

  • The word ‘beside’ can be used to denote someone or something nearby:

For example: Moses walked out of Egypt and across the red sea along with the Israelites, who walked beside him.

  • The word beside can be used ‘in comparison with’ to an individual or thing in a sentence.

For example: Rahim earned his place beside the top 2 contestants in the fashion show.

  • The word ‘beside’ can be used to indicate the location:

For example: There is a mini-fridge beside my bed.

  • The word ‘beside’ can be used to indicate something next to or close to a particular person or thing.

For example: Juliet sat down beside Romeo.


Main Differences Between By and Besides

  1. The word ‘by’ can be used in relevance to time or a place and also denotes an individual doing an action. For example: They have a villa by the airport. The word ‘beside’ can be used in connection to only a place and denotes something or somebody ‘in comparison to’ in a sentence. For example: Martha kept her chocolate right beside mine.
  2. By are often treated as a preposition, adverb, noun, adjective and, interjection. The word ‘beside’ can be treated as only a preposition and an adverb.
  3. ‘By’ can be used in our most daily conversations since it is an informal preposition. For example: I went to the wedding in Hawaii by plane. The word ‘beside’ cannot be used in our daily conversations since it is considered a formal word. For example: There is a shopping mall beside the park.
  4. The word ‘by’ as a preposition refers to next to a specific action or event. For example: Akmed is cleaning the bathroom by himself. The word ‘beside’ as a preposition refers to a word adjacent to a certain person or thing. For example: The woman beside her was wearing a red dress.
  5. The word ‘by’ is not specific and is vague or indefinite when utilized in a sentence. The word ‘beside’ is not vague and is more specific when used in a sentence.

 

Conclusion

Grammar is undoubtedly necessary when it comes to providing well organized and structured material to help ease the audience’s understanding. It is the foundation upon which precise sentences are organized and acknowledged.

Appropriate grammar is an essential instrument in life for it helps in constructing attention-grabbing and comprehensible content. Grammar denotes a variety of things to several people. For an individual, it signifies whether or not the language he speaks is grammatically correct whereas, for a pupil, grammar implies the usage of essential grammatical rules which would help compose precise sentences that have proper meaning.

This piecework emphasizes on the individual meaning of the two words- by and beside and talks about how ‘by’ and ‘beside’ are both prepositions that denote the place of a unit. However, even though the two words have the same sense as the word ‘next to’, they are relatively different to each other because the word ‘beside’ is used to indicate a specific place whereas the word ‘by’ can be used to denote a vague sense of place or duration.


References

  1. https://www.crownacademyenglish.com/preposition-by-meaning-use/
  2. https://sentence.yourdictionary.com/beside
  3. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beside