以外(いがい)Except・besides, Other than, With the exception of

Structure

Verb + 以外(いがい)
Noun + 以外(いがい)

Details

About いがい

In order to mark something as 'except (A)', or 'besides (A)', 以外(いがい) will be used. This construction is a combination of the kanji 以(い) which means 'by means of', and 外(がい) 'outside'. This expression can most accurately be translated as 'with the exception of (A)', or 'everything outside of (A)'.

To use 以外(いがい), attach it to the thing that you want to highlight as being the 'all inclusive' amount/area.

Fun Fact

以外(いがい) is also regularly used simply as an expression of surprise, when someone sees, hears, or reads something that is 'outside' of what they expected. However, in these cases, the more correct kanji construction is 意外(いがい) 'out of mind'. This is a regular mistake that even native speakers make, so in many cases, either 意外(いがい) or 以外(いがい) would be understandable.

たかし君(くん)もアニメ好(す)きなの？ちょっといがいだね。

Takashi-kun, do you like anime too? I'm a little surprised.
俺(おれ)こう見(み)えても意外(いがい)に肉(にく)を食(た)べないの。

It may come off as a surprise based on how I look, but I don't eat meat.

Synonyms

Examples

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メアリー以外(いがい)、誰(だれ)も来(こ)なかった。

No one except Mary came.

それ以外(いがい)、聞(き)いてないよ。

I haven't heard anything other than that.

納豆(なっとう)以外(いがい)何(なん)でも食(た)べられる。

I can eat anything other than natto.

彼(かれ)は言(い)われたこと以外(いがい)何(なに)もしないよ。

He will not do anything other than what he is told.

それ以外(いがい)に好(す)きなことないの？

Don't you have anything you like besides that?

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いがい – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (12 in total)

IcyIceBear
Only one particle there, the first の. Following that is もの as in 物 thing. 以外の物 “a thing other than”
ixxie
AHA! it makes perfect sense now! Thank you!
Wooper
I like that the “Fun Fact” points out 意外 as a different いがい than 以外, but when I read the tip
“以外いがい is also regularly used simply as an expression of surprise”
it makes it sound like 以外 is correct kanji… feel like it could be worded better.

I wonder if might also be useful to note that you can easily tell the difference when spoken because they have different pitch accents? i.e. with 以外 falling on the い and 意外 going up on the い.