else

View more Literature & Language videos

1. The usual possessive forms are anybody else's, someone else's, etc., and not (for example) anybody's else, although this was used until the mid-19th century:

They look to me like someone else's, to be frank—Penelope Lively, 1987

We would like to think our service is better than anyone else's—Daily Record, 2007.

2. In questions, else invariably follows an interrogative pronoun, as in What else did he say? Postponement of else to the end of the sentence, as in What did he say else?, although possible up to the early part of the 20th century, is no longer grammatical.

3. Thus use of else as a conjunction to mean 'otherwise, if not', which is common in literature since the Middle Ages, now seems archaic but is still found in informal speech: Fortunately it [sc. a staircase]

was not spiral, else I would have succumbed to vertigo—B. Rubens, 1985.

Previous:	ellipsis, eligible, illegible, elicit, illicit
Next:	elusive, illusory, email, emails

IN BRIEF: Other than what is under consideration or implied.

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. — Albert Camus, (1913-1960), French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize winner.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

sign description: The A-handshape begins at the stomach and moves up and out, ending with the thumb pointing away from the body.

---

For a list of words related to else, see:

• Limitations and Conditions
• Reflections and References

---

See words rhyming with "else."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Else.

Common misspelling(s) of else

• esle

Dansk (Danish)
adv. - anden, andet, ellers, yderligere, desuden
adj. - anden, andet

idioms:

• above all else    over alt andet
• if nothing else    om ikke andet så for
• or else    eller jeg skal..

Nederlands (Dutch)
anders

Français (French)
adv. - autre, d'autre, de plus
adj. - quelqu'un d'autre, n'importe qui d'autre, autre, différent

idioms:

• above all else    ce qui prime, ce qui est primordial
• or else    sinon, ou bien, autrement

Deutsch (German)
adv. - andernfalls, sonst
adj. - ander(er, e, es)

idioms:

• above all else    vor allem
• or else    andernfalls

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - αλλιώς, αλλιώτικα, αλλού, (οποιοσδήποτε) άλλος, ειδεμή, ειδάλλως

idioms:

• above all else    πάνω απ' όλα
• if nothing else    αν μη τι άλλο
• or else    ειδάλλως, διαφορετικά

Italiano (Italian)
d'altronde

idioms:

• above all else    soprattutto
• if nothing else    per lo meno
• or else    altrimenti

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - de outra forma, em outro lugar
adj. - outro
conj. - ou

idioms:

• above all else    acima de tudo
• if nothing else    no mínimo
• or else    senão, caso contrário

Русский (Russian)
еще, кроме, иначе, другой

idioms:

• above all else    во-первых
• if nothing else    по крайней мере
• or else    а иначе...

Español (Spanish)
adv. - más, en vez de, además
adj. - otro, más

idioms:

• above all else    ante todo
• or else    o bien, si no, de otro modo

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - annars, annan, mer

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
其他, 另外, 否则, 要不然, 别的, 其他的

idioms:

• above all else    首先, 尤其是
• if nothing else    如果没有别的
• or else    否则, 要不然

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 其他, 另外, 否則, 要不然
adj. - 別的, 其他的

idioms:

• above all else    首先, 尤其是
• if nothing else    如果沒有別的
• or else    否則, 要不然

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 그밖에, 대신에, 아니면
adj. - 그 밖의, 게다가, 다른

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - そのほかに, 他に, でなければ

idioms:

• if all else fails    最悪の事態は
• or else    さもないと

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) أيضا, بطريقه أخرى‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮מלבד זאת, עוד, אחרת, ולא, באופן אחר, במקום‬
adj. - ‮אחר, נוסף על‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.