▎別的, biéde, other

 

Function 其他的qítā de, 別的biéde, and 另外的lìngwài de all occur before the noun as a modifier, referring to nouns other than what is being referred to. The three have distinct meanings: 其他的 ‘the others, the remaining’, 別的 ‘other’, and 另外的 ‘the other, another’.

1 他來台灣以後，只去過花蓮，沒去過別的地方。

Tā lái Táiwān yǐhòu, zhǐ qùguò Huālián, méi qùguò biéde dìfāng.

Since he came to Taiwan, he’s only been to Hualien. He hasn’t been to other places. (i.e., anywhere else)

2 我不喜歡吃牛肉，我們點別的菜吧。

Wǒ bù xǐhuān chī niúròu, wǒmen diǎn biéde cài ba.

I don’t like to eat beef. Let’s order something else.

3 李先生結婚的事，只有我知道。其他的人都不知道。

Lǐ xiānshēng jiéhūn de shì, zhǐyǒu wǒ zhīdào. Qítā de rén dōu bù zhīdào.

About Mr. Li getting married, only I know. No one else knows.

4 我只聽說她搬家了。其他的事我都沒聽說。

Wǒ zhǐ tīngshuō tā bānjiā le. Qítā de shì wǒ dōu méi tīngshuō.

I only heard that she moved. I didn’t hear anything else.

5 除了這家民宿，另外的旅館都沒房間了。

Chúle zhè jiā mínsù, lìngwài de lǚguǎn dōu méi fángjiān le.

Aside from this B&B, none of the other hotels have vacancies.

6 現在的公司離家太遠。我打算找另外的工作。

Xiànzài de gōngsī lí jiā tài yuǎn. Wǒ dǎsuàn zhǎo lìngwài de gōngzuò.

My current place of work is too far away from where I live. I plan on looking for another job.

 

Structures Give examples/sentences below.

 

	Omitting的	Number	Measure	Noun
其他的qítā de	✓	✓	✓	✓
別的biéde	×	×	×	✓
另外的lìngwài de	✓	✓	✓	✓

(1) 別的 cannot combine with numbers, nor measures. See the chart on above.

1 另外三個人怎麼去？

Lìngwài sān ge rén zěnme qù?

How will the other three people go?

2 其他三個人怎麼去？

Qítā sān ge rén zěnme qù?

How will the other three people go?

3 ＊別的三個人怎麼去？

＊Biéde sān ge rén zěnme qù?

(2) 其他 combines with any number two (2) or greater, but not the number one (1).

1 這家百貨公司只賣台灣做的衣服，其他五家賣各國的衣服。

Zhè jiā bǎihuò gōngsī zhǐ mài Táiwān zuò de yīfú, qítā wǔ jiā mài gè guó de yīfú.

This particular department store only sells clothes made in Taiwan, but the other five sell international brands.

2 今天只有一個同學沒來，其他九個都來了。

Jīntiān zhǐyǒu yí ge tóngxué méi lái, qítā jiǔ ge dōu lái le.

Today, only one classmate didn’t come. The other nine all came.

3 ＊我借了三本書，兩本已經還了，其他一本還在我這裡。

＊Wǒ jièle sān běn shū, liǎng běn yǐjīng huán le, qítā yì běn hái zài wǒ zhèlǐ.

I borrowed three books. I’ve returned two. The other one, I still have it.