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Uni-edit English Writing Tip 010

“On the other hand” vs. “Besides”

Difficulty: Easy

Many Uni-edit customers are from Chinese & Japanese language
backgrounds. Our customers sometimes translate the characters “ 一方” or
“一方面” into English as “on the other hand” and “besides” synonymously.
However, these words have quite different meanings in English.

On the other hand “On the other hand” is used to present factors that
are opposed, or that support opposing opinions. It suggests the author
is deliberating, or in the process of making a decision. "On one hand
... On the other hand..." is a commonly used and natural structure.

Correct: Some researchers have suggested metallic carbon nanotubes as a
potential material for the construction electrical circuits like those
in computer chips. Metallic carbon nanotubes possess high thermal
stability, thermal conductivity, and current carrying capacity. On the
other hand, their fabrication is a challenging and time-consuming
process, and there is no suitable mass production method at present.

Besides “Besides” is used to introduce an additional idea or
explanation. It suggests the author has already made his decision;
reasons with “besides” are just more evidence for a decision that is
already known to be optimal.

Correct: Based on this evidence, we did not employ metallic carbon
nanotubes to construct our chips. Besides, the speed of existing
technology is suitable for our purposes.

Because “besides” gives an after-the-fact reason for a finding, it can
sound dismissive or even prejudiced. In fact, careful academic writers
rarely use “besides”, because inserting extra, unnecessary reasons
dilutes the original argument.

Saying “moreover” or “in addition” is a sensible alternative that does
not imply rationalizing. That implies the additional fact supports the
main argument or line of reasoning.