While in the Taiwanese mountains a few weeks ago I came across this sign which serves as a great example of how to use ‘except’ or ‘besides’ in Mandarin. The sign reads:
除了照片，什麼都不要帶走（除了照片，什么都不要带走）
Chúle zhàopiàn, shénme dōu bùyào dài zǒu
Except for photographs. don’t take anything away
The scenery was amazing, so I was definitely taking my fair share of photos, though I think the message on the sign referred to not picking the beautiful flowers that were growing in the area. Anyway, the part of the above sentence we’re most interested in is the beginning:
You can make use of this word in loads of ways. Here’s a few examples:
除了雞肉，我什麼肉都不吃（除了鸡肉，我什么肉都不吃）
Chúle jīròu, wǒ shénme ròu dōu bù chī
Other than chicken I don’t eat any meat.
除了學中文，我也喜歡看電影（除了学中文，我也喜欢看电影）
Chúle xué zhōngwén, wǒ yě xǐhuan kàn diànyǐng
In addition to learning Chinese, I also like to watch movies.
To make the sentences a bit clearer you could also use the 除了…以外. The meaning is the same, it’s just adds a bit more distinction between the subject and other item(s) you’re talking about for instance:
除了他以外，都沒有人要去（除了他以外，都沒有人要去）
Chúle tā yǐwài, dōu méiyǒu rén yào qù
Apart from him, no one wants to go.
Lastly, here’s a useful way to say “other than this”, that you can use when listing stuff, or when you need time to think when expressing your thoughts:
我喜歡爬山、打足球、還有慢跑，除此以外我偶爾也會打網球（我喜欢爬山、打足球、还有慢跑，除此以外我偶尔也会打网球）
Wǒ xǐhuan páshān, dǎ zúqiú, hái yǒu mànpǎo, chú cǐ yǐwài wǒ ǒu’ěr yě huì dǎ wǎngqiú
I like to hike, play football, and jog. Other than these I also sometimes play tennis.
Got any other useful examples for 除了? Post ’em below.
Hi it should be 除了鸡肉 ； 肌肉 means muscle
Well spotted, edited.