(chú le) - except, besides, apart from in Mandarin
chúleTraditional: 除了
Translation
except, besides, apart from
Word origin
The word 除了 combines 除 'to remove, except' with the aspect particle 了. 除 is a phono-semantic compound, 阜 (mound) giving the meaning and 余 (yú) the sound. The phrase marks 'except for, besides'.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 除 (chú, except: 阜 mound + 余 phonetic) + 了 (le, particle)
Stroke order
除
了
Examples
，。
Everyone came except you.
，。
Except for me, everyone has arrived.
，？
Apart from this method, are there others?
，菜。
Except for him, no one can cook this dish.
，。
Besides me, he has two other friends.
除了 (chú le) is a preposition meaning except, besides, or apart from. It has two distinct uses. With 以外/之外 and a negative verb (除了你以外，我谁都不信, I trust nobody except you) it means except. With 还 or 也 and a positive predicate (除了学习，他还喜欢运动, besides studying, he also likes sport) it means in addition to or besides. Context and the following predicate determine which meaning applies.
Used in
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 13.