Japanese word of the day: 他に (Hoka ni)

What does 他に (Hoka ni) mean?

他に (Hoka ni) (adverbial expression) — Functions as "other than," "besides," "in addition to," or "apart from.

Kanji details for 他

Character: 他 — other, another, the others
Radical: man, human 人 (亻)

Example sentences with 他に (Hoka ni)

• 他に質問はありますか？
  (Hoka ni shitsumon wa arimasu ka?)
  🧑‍🏫 Do you have any other questions?

• この店では他に何を売っていますか？
  (Kono mise de wa hoka ni nani o utteimasu ka?)
  👜 What else do they sell in this store?

• 彼女の他に誰もその秘密を知らない。
  (Kanojo no hoka ni dare mo sono himitsu o shiranai.)
  🤫Nobody knows that secret other than her.

他に (Hoka ni) in context

You'll commonly hear 他に in questions like "他に何かありますか?" (Is there anything else?) when shopping, ordering at restaurants。The expression is generally acceptable in both casual and formal settings, though in highly formal situations, you might want to incorporate it into more polite sentence structures.

When using 他に, it's important to distinguish it from 他の (ほかの) - while 他に is an adverb modifying verbs, 他の is an adjective modifying nouns. For example, "他に方法がない" (There's no other way) versus "他の方法がない" (There's no other method). A common mistake is confusing these forms or using them interchangeably. For effective usage, try combining 他に with particles like も (also) in "他にも" to indicate additional examples, or は in "他には" which tends to appear more in negative sentences.