besides, but, except 的用法辨析

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)。

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。

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 (from www.nmet168.com)

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。

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.

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