Apart from vs along with

[firee818]

Are these two adverbs use interchangeably for the following sentences:-

1). Aside from/Along with, sandwiches and fried chicken, we also brought cold drinks to the picnic.

Thanks.

 

[Enquiring Mind]

Hi firee818, in my opinion "aside from" doesn't work here because it means "separately" or something similar, depending on the specific context - the notion is "separateness". In your context, the notion is "togetherness".
Along with, together with, in addition to would all be suitable in your context.

However you could say "besides", but one of the three options above would be my preference.

 

[firee818]

Hi firee818, in my opinion "aside from" doesn't work here because it means "separately" or something similar, depending on the specific context - the notion is "separateness". In your context, the notion is "togetherness".
Along with, together with, in addition to would all be suitable in your context.

However you could say "besides", but one of the three options above would be my preference.

I would be very much appreciated if you could express the idea of 'separateness' in the form of examples as I couldn't understand the principle behind.

What is the difference between aside from and besides, as the dictionary stated that 'aside from' ='besides'

aside from:

• in addition to;
  besides:Aside from being too small, the jacket's color is ugly.

• except for:Aside from a few minor mistakes, this is a very good paper.

Thank you.

 

[Enquiring Mind]

He is always late for work, he spends a lot of time away from the desk smoking, he keeps taking my pens, and he never brings me a cup of coffee, but aside from that he's a good colleague.

Here we have a list of things (late for work, etc) that don't contribute to him being a good colleague. But if we leave those aside, if we separate them, then we might think he's a good colleague in other ways.

aside from
Money continues to be a problem but aside from that we're all well.
I hardly watch any television, aside from news and current affairs.
(source: Cambridge)

I don't agree with the WR dictionary's explanation that "aside from" is synonymous with "in addition to", though that may be the case in certain contexts. It depends on the precise sense. The example it gives (about the jacket) is not a good one, in my opinion. If we look at the OALD, we see:

BrE ; NAmE (especially North American English)
= apart from
Aside from a few scratches, I'm OK.

Here it means "if we disregard, (or consider as a separate issue) a few scratches ..." We couldn't say "in addition to" here.

In your example in your first post, the sense isn't "if we disregard (or consider as a separate issue) the sandwiches and fried chicken...", it means "in addition to", so "aside from" doesn't work. It's not the right sense there.

 

[firee818]

He is always late for work, he spends a lot of time away from the desk smoking, he keeps taking my pens, and he never brings me a cup of coffee, but aside from that he's a good colleague.

Here we have a list of things (late for work, etc) that don't contribute to him being a good colleague. But if we leave those aside, if we separate them, then we might think he's a good colleague in other ways.

aside from
Money continues to be a problem but aside from that we're all well.
I hardly watch any television, aside from news and current affairs.
(source: Cambridge)

I don't agree with the WR dictionary's explanation that "aside from" is synonymous with "in addition to", though that may be the case in certain contexts. It depends on the precise sense. The example it gives (about the jacket) is not a good one, in my opinion. If we look at the OALD, we see:

BrE ; NAmE (especially North American English)
= apart from
Aside from a few scratches, I'm OK.

Here it means "if we disregard, (or consider as a separate issue) a few scratches ..." We couldn't say "in addition to" here.

In your example in your first post, the sense isn't "if we disregard (or consider as a separate issue) the sandwiches and fried chicken...", it means "in addition to", so "aside from" doesn't work. It's not the right sense there.

Thank you very much, I got it.