47.5 The Preposition 除咗 ceoi4 zo2 (‘apart from’)
The preposition 除咗 ceoi4 zo2 means ‘apart from’. We put a noun after 除咗 ceoi4 zo2 to form a prepositional phrase.
We can put the prepositional phrase before the verb, or before the modal verb if there is one.
We can also put the prepositional phrase at the beginning of a sentence.
When using 除咗 ceoi4 zo2, we sometimes add the adverb 仲 zung6 to add the meaning of ‘in addition’. We put 仲 zung6 before the verb, or before the modal verb if there is one.
我哋除咗地鐵仲可以坐巴士。
ngo5 dei6 ceoi4 zo2 dei6 tit3 zung6 ho2 ji5 co5 baa1 si2.
除咗地鐵，我哋仲可以坐巴士。
ceoi4 zo2 dei6 tit3, ngo5 dei6 zung6 ho2 ji5 co5 baa1 si2.
Apart from the subway, we can take the bus in addition.
Note that if the sentence is formed with a predicative adjective, we will use the adverb 都 dou1 (‘too’) instead. We put 都 dou1 before the predicative adjective, or before the degree word if there is one.
我哋除咗地鐵坐巴士都得。
ngo5 dei6 ceoi4 zo2 dei6 tit3 co5 baa1 si2 dou1 dak1.
除咗地鐵，我哋坐巴士都得。
ceoi4 zo2 dei6 tit3, ngo5 dei6 co5 baa1 si2 dou1 dak1.
Apart from the subway, taking the bus is okay too.
The 得 dak1 (‘okay’) here is a predicative adjective. Therefore, 都 dou1 is used instead.