Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 8: 2/18

他(ほか)にOther, Another, Any other, Anything else, As well as, Besides, In addition

ほかにも cannot be used in negative sentences, with the exception of questions
外 is another way to write ほか

Structure

他(ほか) + の + Noun
（その(1)） + 他(ほか) + にも(2)
Noun + の + 他(ほか) + にも(2)
Verb + 他(ほか) + にも(2)
（その(1)） + 他(ほか) + には(3) + Phrase［ない］
Noun + の + 他(ほか) + には(3) + Phrase［ない］
Verb + 他(ほか) + には(3) + Phrase［ない］

(1) この
(2) に、も、は、には
(3) に、は

Details

  • Standard

About ほかに(も)・ほか(に)は

他(ほか)に is regularly considered to be one of the more difficult structures to master in Japanese, so let's take a thorough look at it. Basically, 他(ほか) by itself just means 'another', or 'other'. に highlights 他(ほか) 'another thing' as being the target of what comes next in any particular sentence. The possibilities are as follows:

他(ほか)に - Another thing.

他(ほか)に（も） - Even another thing (sounds less certain).

他(ほか)に（は） - Was there another thing (focuses on something pre-existing, which someone may have forgotten).

他(ほか)の + Noun - Another 'specific thing'.

他(ほか)に（は） may be used in either positive or negative sentences, but it tends to appear in negative sentences more often.

Caution

Because 他(ほか)に（も） focuses on the 'addition' of another thing, it cannot be used in negative sentences (with the exception of questions).

The reason this is acceptable in questions, but not statements, is due to the 'isn't it?' meaning that negative questions can have in Japanese (just like English). It is the equivalent of the following:

この他(ほか)にもない - In addition to this, there is also nothing (sounds strange in English!)

その他(ほか)にもないか - In addition to that, is there nothing else? (sounds normal in English!)

Related

Examples

--:--

  • 他(ほか)は？

    Anything else?

  • いいえ、他(ほか)はいりません。

    No, I don't need anything else.

  • 他(ほか)の国(くに)に行(い)ったことがありますか。

    Have you ever been to any other countries?

  • 他(ほか)の方法(ほうほう)がないかな。

    I wonder if there is no other way. (another)

  • この箸(はし)の他(ほか)には使(つか)えないんだ。

    I can't use anything but these chopsticks. (other than)

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ほかに(も)・ほか(に)は – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (31 in total)

  • ixxie

    ixxie

    This is doubly confusing, because は can be used to distinguish the topic, so it’s inherently “exclusive” (we are only talking about a hat, or today’s weather, or the test tomorrow) as opposed to も which I would say is “inclusive”.

    Additionally, I don’t think the examples properly prepare you to make the leap to the first example question to which the answer is 他は. Yes, this is extremely simple and basic, but the lesson sets you up to expect to see the に particle in conjunction and its omission isn’t explained.

  • killhour

    killhour

    I’m really sure why 他の doesn’t work here. 予定 is a noun in this example, is it not?

  • casual

    casual

    予定 here is indeed a noun.

    It might be easy to overlook, but there are 2 different constructions with somewhat different meaning:

    • ほかの(Noun) = other (additional) X
    • (something)ほかには = other than (outside of) X

    For more example sentences, the first one is also covered by 2 vocabulary items: 他 (JLPT N5) | Bunpro and 他 (JLPT N3) | Bunpro. For the second one there’s actually also a vocab entry 他に (JLPT N5) | Bunpro, so maybe there needs to be some de-duplication or at least cross-linking done here.

    I think you can technically use ほかの of the first kind here, but the meaning will be different:

    今日はスーパーに行く他の予定がない。
    I don’t have other plans of going to a supermarket today.
    (I...

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