Besides and except: 除了…以外
除了…以外 sets one item aside. The second clause decides everything: 还／也 includes it and adds more, 都 excludes it from the rest.
结构
除了 + 名词／动词短语 + 以外，还／也 + …（包括） ｜ 除了…以外，都 + …（排除）
讲解
本文中的中文词语都可以激活，查看词典释义。
… sets one item aside; what the second clause does with the rest is what gives the sentence its meaning, and there are two opposite possibilities. With or , the item is included and something is added to it: ， “Besides Chinese, I can also speak French” — Chinese is one of the languages and French is another. With , the item is excluded and everything else is grouped together: ， “All of us have been to the Great Wall except Xiao Wang.” Because the two readings are opposites, the second clause can never be left bare — ， leaves the listener guessing. may be dropped in speech (，), and … is the same pattern in a slightly more formal key. The phrase usually opens the sentence but may also follow the subject: ，. What comes after can be a noun or a whole verb phrase: ，.
正确
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
除了汉语以外，我还会说一点儿法语。除了漢語以外，我還會說一點兒法語。
Chúle (second tone, rising) Hànyǔ (fourth tone, falling) yǐwài, (third tone, dipping) wǒ (third tone, dipping) hái (second tone, rising) huì (fourth tone, falling) shuō (first tone, high and level) yìdiǎnr (fourth tone, falling) Fǎyǔ. (third tone, dipping)···
Besides Chinese, I can also speak a little French.
除了小王以外，我们都去过长城。除了小王以外，我們都去過長城。
Chúle (second tone, rising) Xiǎo (third tone, dipping) Wáng (second tone, rising) yǐwài, (third tone, dipping) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) dōu (first tone, high and level) qùguo (fourth tone, falling) Chángchéng. (second tone, rising)···
All of us have been to the Great Wall except Xiao Wang.
他除了工作以外，还喜欢爬山。他除了工作以外，還喜歡爬山。
Tā (first tone, high and level) chúle (second tone, rising) gōngzuò (first tone, high and level) yǐwài, (third tone, dipping) hái (second tone, rising) xǐhuan (third tone, dipping) pá (second tone, rising) shān. (first tone, high and level)···
Apart from work, he also enjoys hiking.
错误 — 常见错误
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
不太对
Incorrect sentence: 除了小王以外，我们去过长城。
正确
Correct sentence: 除了小王以外，我们都去过长城。
为什么: The second clause must carry 都 (excluding) or 还／也 (including). Without one of them the sentence does not say which of the two opposite meanings is intended.
不太对
Incorrect sentence: 除了汉语以外，我都会说法语。
正确
Correct sentence: 除了汉语以外，我还会说法语。
为什么: 都 gives the “everything else” reading, which makes no sense with a single extra language. 还 is the word that adds an item.
不太对
Incorrect sentence: 我除了以外汉语，还会说法语。
正确
Correct sentence: 我除了汉语以外，还会说法语。
为什么: 除了 and 以外 wrap around the item: 除了 opens and 以外 closes. 以外 never comes before what it is setting aside.
对比
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
These two share a trap rather than a meaning. Chinese connectives work in pairs, and the half learners drop is nearly always the second: 所以 in 因为…所以…, and 还／也／都 in 除了…以外…. In both patterns the opening words only set the sentence up — the second half carries the information. Leaving out 所以 makes a sentence sound unfinished; leaving out 还 or 都 makes it genuinely ambiguous, because the very same 除了 phrase can either add an item or exclude one.
Cause and result: 因为…所以… →小测验
第 1 题 / 3总分: 0
Choose the word that fits: everyone has been to the Great Wall apart from Xiao Wang.
除了小王以外，我们 ___ 去过长城。