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beside(s)
1) If someone or something is beside someone or something else, they are at their side or next to them. Used with verbs:
e.g.
I waited for my friend, standing beside the car.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
He was talking to the man beside him.

2) If you work or fight beside someone, you work or fight in cooperation with each other.
e.g.
People of all nations worked beside each other to clear up the wreckage.

3) Beside is used to show that you are comparing two things.
e.g.
What is love beside art?
As a soccer player, he was nothing beside his brother.

4) If you have something beside or besides other things, you have it in addition to those things. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He owned several motorcycles besides his sports cars.
Also used as an adverb:
e.g.
He was a generous man but he was many other things besides.
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2) If people or things move between two places, they move regularly from one place to the other and back again. Used with verbs:
e.g
He has been commuting regularly between Osaka and Tokyo for several years now.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
There are now regular flights between Japan and the UK following the opening of the new airport.

3) If something stands between you and a thing or person, it prevents you from having that thing or having a good relationship with that person.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
A group of mediators will be necessary to intervene between the two warring sides.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
His dislike of opera formed a barrier between them.

4) If something happens between two times or events, it happens after one and before the other. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He ate his meals quickly between sessions of translating.

5) The interval of time between one event or moment and another is the amount of time that passes after the first event and before the next one.
e.g.
There are only six days between Christmas and New Year.

6) You use between when indicating a range of ages.
e.g.
The school offers technology-based education to students between the ages of 11 and 18.

7) Something between one thing and another is a mixture of them both.
Used after 'something' or the noun 'cross'.
e.g.
He was something between a saint and an artist.
Their dog was a lurcher, a cross between a greyhound and a sheepdog.

8) A relationship or interaction between two people, groups or things is one that involves them both. Used with nouns:
e.g.
What is the connection between language and culture?
Also used with verbs:
e.g.
Sometimes silence fell between them, when neither knew what to say.

9) If there is a difference or a similarity between people or things, they are different or similar. Used with nouns:
e.g.
The distinction between them was plain to see.
The gap between rich and poor nations is not getting any smaller.
Also used with verbs:
e.g.
The new tax fails to distinguish between rich and poor.

10) If you choose between two or more things, you choose only one of them. Used with verbs:
e.g.
Children at school now have to choose between English, French and German.
Used with nouns:
In Zimbabwe, some hospitals now give patients a choice between traditional and modern medicine.

11) When something is shared or divided between people, they each have or do part of it, or they both use it. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The costs of ground improvement were divided between all 92 football league clubs.
In many modern homes, child rearing is shared between the couple.

12) If two or more people have something or manage to do something between them, they each have or do part of it. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The two worked out that they had only forty dollars between them to last the month.
The two clubs have won the league championship nine times between them.
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2) If something happens beyond a particular time or date, it continues after that time or date has passed. Used with verbs:
e.g.
Not many children remain in the school beyond the age of 16.
Also used as an adverb:
e.g.
The government outlined their strategy for the year 2000 and beyond.

3) If something extends beyond a particular thing, it affects or includes other things. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He was not willing to comment beyond what he had already said.

4) You use beyond to introduce an exception to what you are talking about.
e.g.
Beyond what he had read in the newspapers, he knew very little about Japan.

5) If something goes beyond a particular point or stage, it advances or increases so that it passes that point or stage. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The nuclear power program has now proceeded beyond the point where it can be easily halted.

6) If something is said to be, for example, beyond belief or beyond comprehension, it is so extreme in some way that it cannot be believed or understood. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The inefficiency of the welfare system had worsened beyond belief.
Used after an adjective:
e.g.
Some of the problems in Africa are bad beyond belief.
Used after a noun:
e.g.
In El Dorado, they say there was gold beyond description.

7) If you say that something is beyond someone, you mean that they cannot understand it, do it, or have it. Used after the verb 'be':
e.g.
His logic and reasoning were quite beyond me.
Used after a noun:
e.g.
The accident was due to factors beyond our control.
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2) If you say that something such as a book, a piece of music or a painting is by a particular person, you mean that this person wrote it or created it.
Used after the verb 'be':
e.g.
This book is by David Lodge, whom you may have heard of.
After a noun:
e.g.
Over the fireplace was a painting by Constable.

3) If you do something by a particular means, you do it using that means. Used after a verb, followed by a noun with no determiner or an '-ing' clause.
e.g.
Did you come by car?
He tried to remove the scratch by polishing vigorously.
Used after a noun:
e.g.
I do not usually enjoy journeys by air.

4) You use by in phrases which indicate whether or not an event was planned:
e.g.
I dialled the wrong number by mistake.
His letter was sent to the wrong address by accident.
He usually succeeds, either by luck or good management.

5) If we say something is by law, by a particular rule or by particular standards, it means that it is according to the law or to the rule or standards. Used with verbs:
e.g.
Driving licences must be renewed every five years, by law.

6) You say that someone is a particular type of person by nature, birth or profession when mentioning their character, nationality or profession.
e.g
He is English by birth, whatever anyone may say.
My father was a carpenter by trade, though he later managed a shop.

7) If you say what someone means by a particular word or expression, you are saying what they intend the word or expression to refer to.
e.g.
'Good fortune' is what most people mean by 'luck'.

8) If you hold someone or something by a particular part, you hold that part. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The referee ran up and grabbed him by the shoulder.
He held up the painting by one corner and looked at it.

9) Someone or something that is by something else is beside it and close to it.
e.g.
He sat by his daughter's bedside all night when she was sick.
After a noun:
e.g.
The medicine was on the table by the door.

10) When someone or something goes by you, they move past without stopping. Used with verbs:
e.g.
I heard a nightingale as I passed by the woods.
Also used as an adverb:
e.g.
The whole house shakes when a heavy truck goes by.

11) If you stop (or drop) by a place, you visit it for a short time.
e.g.
He invited us to drop by his place sometime for a few drinks.

12) If you are by yourself, you are alone. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He sat by himself and waited for the first train of the day.

13) If you do something by yourself, you do it without anyone helping you. Used with verbs:
e.g.
She doesn't need any help, she can manage very well by herself.

14) If you stand by a person or abide by a principle, you remain loyal or obedient to them. Used with verbs:
e.g.
I would be quite prepared to stand by my comments at any time.
The cabinet all stated that they would abide by the Prime Minister's decision.

15) If something happened or will happen by a particular time, it happened or will happen at some time before then. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The fishing boats had all returned by dawn.

16) If you habitually do something by day or by night, you do it during the day or during the night.
e.g.
He was a respectable lawyer by day and a common burglar by night.

17) In arithmetic, you use by before the second number in a multiplication or division problem.
e.g.
Multiply the cost per day by the number of days.
Divide the amount of prize money by the number of people.

18) You use by to talk about measurements of area.
e.g.
The room is twenty feet by fifteen feet (i.e. it is twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide).

19) If something increases or decreases by a particular amount, that amount is gained or lost.
e.g.
Profits have increased by £113 million in eleven years.
Department budgets have been cut by 20 per cent.

20) Things that exist or are produced by the dozen, thousand, million etc. exist or are produced in those quantities.
e.g.
She wrote letters by the dozen every month.
His new book is selling by the million.

21) You use by between identical nouns to talk about things that happen gradually.
e.g.
The weather became warmer day by day until Spring was in full bloom.
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2) If you are close to a situation or state, you are almost in that situation or state. Used with verbs:
e.g
She was close to tears after the lecture from her boss.

3) If something is similar to something else, you can say it is close to it.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
They had an argument and came very close to fighting.

4) If something is close to a particular amount, it is a little less or more than that amount. Used with the verb 'be':
e.g.
His winnings, after a day at the races, were close to £500.
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END of Chapter Four