他に(も)・他(に)は grammar without explanations

[Anthropos888]

The 他に(も)・他(に)は grammar point 395 has a variety of possible forms:

他に ・ 他に(も)
他は ・ 他(に)は
他も ・ 他の ・ 他を

But there is no explanation when to use which. So this is my most hated grammar point since I have no clue how to answer the reviews and I’m just guessing.

Besides that, your accepted answers are sometimes contrary to the linked readings. For example for nouns following ほか you normally only accept the の particle. But the linked second reading says “に is more common and sounds more natural”. So why don’t you accept に as well in those cases?

Suggestion: for every mentioned particle in your structure you should tell when to use it (with verb, noun, adjective etc.). Furthermore you should use hints to tell the user why an answer is incorrect and why the choosen particle can’t be used in that case.

[mrnoone]

I revamped it.

The current version should answer all questions.

[Anthropos888]

First of all, thanks a lot for the additional explanations. I resetted that grammar point and started again from the first sentence. Since then I got everything correct

But one question, what about a sentence like this:
他に方法がありません。

This would be case 1 or case 2 of your explanations?

[mrnoone]

Yeah, も variants will be wrong.

But の is ok. You can think of it as combination of 1 and 5.
The difference would be that に version would be an adverb, while 他の方法 is a noun phrase.

But the same information is passed, and both ways sound natural. By the way, there will be more about ほか+ない structure and variations in N2 lessons(coming soon )

[Anthropos888]

So it’s unnatural to use の here or is every form except も ok?

I’ll paste the structure here as well so that other users know which numbers we are talking about

1.他 + の + Noun
2.(この/あの/その +) 他 + に/にも/も/には/は、
3.Noun + の + 他 + に/にも/も/には/は、
4.Verb + 他 + に/にも/も/には/は、
5.(この/あの/その +) 他 + に/には/は、+ Negative
6.Noun + の + 他 + に/には/は、+ Negative
7.Verb + 他 + に/には/は、+ Negative
1 他A means: other A・
2-4 AほかB mean in addition to A/besides A, B・
5-7 means nothing but/ not~ other than/ not except for A. この/あの/その can be skipped if it is clear what speaker/writer is referring to.
2-7 can be used without following particle in formal writing・他に/にも/も/には/ all mean mostly the same thing. Though は has a stronger tendency to appear in negative sentences so try to not use it in affirmative ones, 他にも/他も doesn’t appear with negative sentences and この他 is being used with nearby things.

[mrnoone]

Yeah, も variants will be wrong.

But の is ok. You can think of it as combination of 1 and 5.
The difference would be that に version would be an adverb, while 他の方法 is a noun phrase.

But the same information is passed, and both ways sound natural. By the way, there will be more about ほか+ない structure and variations in N2 lessons(coming soon )

[Anthropos888]

Thanks, now that you say it I realize that 他に is the adverb form. I didn’t think about that before cause I thought it’s just a set expression. But it’s a very useful information to understand the slightly different nuances between 他の (noun) and 他に (adverb). Maybe you could add that information as well to the grammar point.

[Nenad]

I think I figured out all the differences except why is it sometimes 他には and sometimes just 他に?

[mrnoone]

Hey

は is topic or contrast particle (actually it is both at the same time, like electric and magnetic forces, are both sides of the same coin - electromagnetism. Sometimes topic function, sometimes contrastive function is more prominent. And sometimes you cannot really tell).

Example:
さいたまさんはスーパーに行ったが、ジェノスはレストランに行った。
Saitama went to the supermarket, but Genos went to the restaurant.
Saitama and Genos are contrasted here.

Often what something is contrasted with is something mentioned earlier, or obvious to interlocutors (implied). Sometimes it might be not that clear. Then it highlights what is negated.

マギーさんは教師です。
Maggie-san is a teacher. (implies that others are not(in some group). Though it HIGHLY depends on context)

In terms of ほか, は is often used with negative sentences:
今日はスーパーに行く他は予定がない。
Today, I don’t have any plans other than going to the store. (but not other plans, like going to cinema)

Implies that going to store is the only plan. It is contrasted with all other possible plans, this one has been chosen.

Well, that is basically it. Just think of it as an emphasis of negation.
I hope it helps.

PS
By the way, our super common ではない was originally でない、but contrast particle was used so often that it simply took its role and became negative itself (and lost contrastive meaning).