1. 基本区别

三者都可表示“除外”,但 besides 表示一种累加关系,意指“除了什么之外,还有……”;而 except 或 but 则表示一种排除关系,意指“除了什么之外,不再有……”。如:

Besides his wife,his daughter also went to see him. 除他妻子外,他女儿也去看过他(即妻子女儿都去看过他)。

Nobody went to see him except [but] his wife. 除他妻子外,没有一个人看过他(即只有他妻子去看过他)。

Everyone was there but him.

除他之外,大家都在。

注:在否定句中,besides 也表示“除……之外不再有…… ”,与but, except 同义。如:

No one passed the exam besides [except] Jim. 除吉姆外,没一个人通过考试。

No one read the book besides [except]me.除了我外没有人看过你本书。

  2. 关于 but 与 except

(1) 两者都可表示“除……外不再有……”,但含义上略有差别:but侧重指意义的几乎完整性,而 except 则侧重指后面除去的部分。比较:

All are here but one. 除一个人都到了。

All are here except one. 还有一个人没到。

  (2) 在现代英语中,but 的介词用法十分有限,一般说来,它只能用在下列词语之后:

① no, no one, nobody, nothing, nowhere 等

② any, anyone, anybody, anything, anywhere 等

③ every, everyone, everybody, everything, everywhere 等

④ all, none 等

⑤ who, what, where 等

Everyone knows it but you. 除你之外大家都知道。

I haven't told anybody but you. 除你之外,我没告诉任何人。

No one but he [him] showed much interest in it. 除他之外没有一个人对此有很大兴趣。

I had no choice but to sign the contract.

我别无选择,只好签了合同。

一般说来,若没有出现上述词汇,就不宜使用介词 but, 否则可能造成错句。但是 except 却没有以上限制。比较:

正:The window is never opened except in summer. 除夏天外,这扇窗户从不打开。

误:The window is never opened but in summer.

(3) but 一定不能用于句首,except 通常不用于句首:

除我之外每个人都累了。

正:Everyone is tired but (except) me.

正:Everyone but (except) me is tired.

误:But (Except) me, everyone is tired.

注:except for 可用于句首,表示 except 的意思:

正:Except for me, everyone is tired.

  3. 关于 except 与 except for:

except 主要用来谈论同类的东西,而 except for 则主要用来谈论不同类的东西,有时含有惋惜之意。如:

All compositions are well written except yours. 除了你的作文外,其他的作文都写得很好。

His composition is good except for a few spelling mistakes. 他的作文写得不错,只是有几处拼写错误。

注:若用于句首,则 except for 与 except 同义(但 except 通常不用于句首)。

4. 关于 except for 与 but for:

except for 主要表示排除,but for 主要表示一种虚拟条件(与虚拟语气连用)。如:

Except for me, everyone passed the exam. 除了我之外,大家都通过了考试。

But for my help, she would not have passed the exam. 若不是我的帮助,她就不会通过考试。

But for the atmosphere plants would die. 如果没有大气,植物就会死亡。

He would have played but for a knee injury.

他要不是膝部有伤的话,就上场了。

But for your generous help, we couldn't have finished the work so soon.

如果没有你的鼎力相助,我们不可能这麼快完成工作的。

5. besides的其他用法

besides 除用作介词外,还用作副词,其意为“此外”、“而且”,可用于分句句首(通常用逗号隔开)或句尾。如:

Besides working as a doctor, he also writes novels in his spare time.

除了当医生之外,他在业余时间还写小说。

I don't want to go; besides, I'm too tired. 我不想去,而且我也太累了。

This car belongs to Smith, and he has two others besides. 这部车是史密斯的,此外他还有两部。

知识拓展

一、except, but与apart from用法

What other sports do you like besides football?= What other sports do you like apart from football?

除足球外你还喜欢哪些运动?

I like all sports except football.= I like all sports apart from football.

除足球外我喜欢所有的运动。

特别注意:apart from可以替代besides和except即上述两种含义均可用apart from

二、except, but后接不定式何时带to,何时不带to?

1、简单地说,只要主句中有do,except, but 后不用to. 例如:

He did nothing there except watch TV for the whole night. 整个晚上,他除了看电视,什么也没做。

Last night I did nothing but prepare my lessons. 昨天晚上,我什么也没做,只是在准备功课。

What could he do but forgive her?

他不原谅她又能怎么办?

2. 主句谓语动词不是do,而是其它动词如have, be 等的时候,except, but 后面要接to. 例如:

It had no effect except to make him angry. 除了令他生气之外,没什么效果。

I had no choice but to stay in bed. 我只有呆在床上,没什么选择。

三、but作是关系代词,引导定语从句

but既可指人,也可指物,常在定语从句中充当主语。but本身含"否定"的意思,其作用相当于"that /which /who...not"。它前面的主句通常有"否定"的词(如:no,not, little,few,hardly等)。but引导的肯定定语从句和否定的主句连用,达到强烈肯定的修饰效果。例如:

There is no mother but loves her own children.(=There is no mother that/who does not love her own children.)

没有不爱自己孩子的母亲。

There is no rule but has exceptions. 凡是规则皆有例外。

When the film was on , there was no person but burst into tears.电影放映时没有一个观众不流泪。

There is no Chinese but knows Leifeng. 没有一个中国人不知道雷锋。

besides,but,except 的用法辨析