Oh my word Beside, Besides

India is located beside (next to) Pakistan in the west, besides (in addition to that) the two countries share the Himalayan mountain chain.

“…oh friend, that the river has a great multitude of voices? Doesn’t it have the voice of a king, a warrior, a bull, a nocturnal bird, a woman giving birth, a sighing person, and a thousand other voices besides?” –Siddharatha by Hermann Hesse

Beset with problems, he lay beside a shore bed of stream under a pipal tree, and meditated over the challenges of the future besides the current one.

“You can recite all that, sad Lynette Maison, running a hand down his withered thigh. And so much else besides. –The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Beside is a preposition. Beside means at the side of someone or somebody; next to; along side, at the side of, close to, near or nearby, next to someone or something; beside also used to compare or compared with somebody or something (Beside his earlier avatar as the politician, this time he is acting adroitly).

Beside oneself (with something) is an idiom meaning having lost one’s patience, going berserk, delirious, distraught, insane, going made at someone or something, one’s self-control because of the intensity of the emotion one is feeling. She was beside herself with anger when she discovered her husband’s infidelity.

O. Henry’s collection of short stories is the book I keep beside my table, along with a dictionary and Kindle! My house is beside to a bungalow that is dilapidated. The two pupils always like to sit beside one another. The farmers sat beside the culvert on a stone and counted the number of vehicles entering into the countryside off the highway.

Besides is a preposition. Besides means also, in addition to something or somebody, apart from, barring, excepting

The four of them went driving to the Himalayan glacier, besides a dog and cat in the car. Besides India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Indian subcontinent also comprises of Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Besides also functions as except something or that one but following a negative such as barring, excepting ( I like him besides his rage), other than, without, over and above- the two families have no contact with each other besides being distant relatives and thus meeting at functions.

Besides also functions as an adverb meaning in addition, also, as well, further, furthermore, moreover, otherwise, too, what’s more.

I have time for walking, besides taking time for yoga and cooking; and beside my house is a field.

- Kovuuri G Reddy