除了 and its contradictory meanings

[gegehuhu]

I'm confused about the meaning of 除了 because I've seen it translated as both "except for" and "in addition to"/“besides".

In my understanding of English, this first translation has a very different, almost opposite meaning, from the second two translations.

Let's say A, B, and C are all parts of group D.

If I say "except for A, I like D", that means I like B and C but not A.

A sentence using "in addition to" or "besides", on the other hand, obviously includes all the parts mentioned.

So what's the deal with 除了? Which one does it mean?

[skylee]

除了 means except.

[Kenny同志]

除了 on 汉典

Hope it helps.

[chrix]

After a cursory glance at my 虚词词典 I think it can mean both.

In the "except" meaning, the following clause usually has an adverb like 都, 全in order to "stress the unanimity of the rest"

除了英语，他各门功课都在90分以上。

In the "besides" meaning, the following clause usually has an adverb like 也，还，只

这种手表，除了式样美观，也很耐用。

[LongwenChinese]

It does mean both, depending on context.

When I was learning English, I had a lot of trouble telling between "except" and "besides" for that reason.

[gegehuhu]

chrix, 你解释得很清楚，谢谢！

[HashiriKata]

In my understanding of English, this first translation has a very different, almost opposite meaning, from the second two translations.

It depends on what word in English you equate to 除了. If you think of 除了 as "apart from", then you'll see that "apart from ", like 除了, covers both "except for" and "in addition to / besides":

Apart from swimming, I like all other forms of sports (= "except for").

Apart from hiking, I also go mountain climbing (= "in addtion to")