as well as
Hi, today we are going to be looking at "as well as" in English.
This video is a shout-out to Faizal who requested a video on "as well as,"
So this is for you Fazil and for anyone else who will find it useful.
So, let’s get started.
“As well as” can be used as a conjunction or a preposition. Conjunctions are linking
words and can link words, phrases or clauses.
Wheareas prepositions show a relationship between two or more people, places or things
and are usually followed by a noun phrase or pronoun.
So, firstly let’s look at “as well as” as a multi word preposition. It means “in
addition to” something or someone.
You use it when you want to mention another item connected with the subject you are discussing.
So, let’s look at an example:
When they go to Switzerland, they like walking as well as skiing.
This means that in addition to skiing they also like walking.
But not only that, you are emphasizing the fact that they like walking as well as skiing.
It is not simply replacing “and.”
It is saying not only do they like skiing but also walking.
Or
I'm studying biology as well as history.
This means that in addition to history I am studying biology. Again, the emphasis is on
biology. It means that not only am I studying history but also biology.
If we said,
“I am studying biology and history.” We are giving no emphasis to biology or history,
they are equal.
So let’s look at another example:
The shop sold books as well as newspapers.
This means that in addition to selling newspapers, the shop also sells books.
Notice there is no comma. Most of the time, you don’t need a comma before "as well as."
Now let’s look at this sentence:
Jo, as well as Suzanne, is a fan of YouTube.
Here we have 2 commas. Using a comma turns the thing you’re talking about with as well
as into an aside–information that’s less important than the rest of the sentence. That’s
where the judgement call comes in. You have to decide whether the things you’re connecting
with "as well as" are equally important or not.
In this sentence, as well as Suzanne is an aside–something that could go in brackets.
Writing the sentence this way de-emphasizes Suzanne and puts the focus on Jo. Notice that
you need one comma before the phrase and one comma after it.
Also notice that this sentence needs the verb is, not are, even though you mentioned both
Jo and Suzanne. That’s because "as well as" is not the same as "and." It can’t create
a compound subject.
If the part about Suzanne is important, the best thing to do is to get rid of the commas
and change "as well as" to "and."
So, you'd get, "Jo and Suzanne are fans of YouTube."
Then we'd have the verb in the plural, "are" and fans
in the plural too.
You can also use "as well as" to make a simple comparison.
For example:
I did as well as you on the test. This means I did equally well as you on the test.
Or in the negative
I don’t sing as well as Beyonce does.
This means that Beyonce sings better than I do.
When you’re making a simple comparison, you should never include the comma.
So now let’s look at "as well as" with verbs.
Lets look at "as well as" + gerund.
Here is an example:
'As well as playing golf with Steve, I play badminton with my brother at the weekend.'
So, here we have "as well as" followed by the gerund ( the –ing form of the verb) this
is because we are using “as well as” as a conjunction here. Conjunctions are linking
words and here “as well as” joins the subordinate clause to the main clause. After
using “as well as” as a conjunction we use the gerund. It is similar in meaning to
“In addition to .”
Or another example would be:
He makes the cakes as well as selling them too.
Here it means that in addition to selling the cakes he makes them as well. Notice if as
well as comes in the middle of the sentence it is not preceded by a comma.
Now let’s look at "as well as" followed by the infinitive.
Here is an example:
I need to call my mum as well as collect my children.
This means in addition to collecting my children I need also to call my mum. But here we use
the bare infinitive as we have the infinitive with the main verb. I need to call. Notice
we drop the to after “as well as.”
Here is another example sentence.
I can speak English as well as speak French.
This means in addition to speaking French I also speak English.
Whereas if you say:
I can speak English as well as I speak French. it has a very different meaning.
This then becomes a comparison.
Here you are saying that you can speak English to the same degree of proficiency
as you can speak French.
OK so I hope you now feel more confident in using "as well as" in English.
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OK, so thank you for watching and I'll see you very soon. Bye, bye.
as well as