除此之外grammar point · tier 2 · 除此之外 besides this (set the whole prior statement aside, add more)
Besides this: 此 seals off everything just said, and the clause that follows adds something further beyond it.
字源 FORM what the parts do
除 clears a thing away (steps swept, one stair at a time). 此 points back at what was just said (a foot come to rest, the figure standing on the spot). 之外 puts it on the far side of a line (之 the classical of; 外 the outer side). 此 has already swallowed the prior statement, so the bracket closes on itself and needs no noun set between.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
What was just said is boxed up and sealed; a fresh thing is set down on the ground beyond the box.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
[prior statement]。除此之外，[further point]。
觸 · Trigger
You have finished a point and want to push past the whole of it to add one more thing.
序 · The move
1Finish the prior statement and close it; then open the next sentence with 除此之外.Does 此 stand for everything just said, with no item left to bracket inside?
2Write the further point after the comma.Is this point ADDED beyond the prior one, not an exception carved out of it?
3Lean the added clause on an additive word — 還, 也, or 更.Does the second clause stack more on top, never deny what came before?
例 · Examples
1他不但not only是個成功successful的企業家entrepreneur，也also是個學者scholar，除此之外besides this，更even more, on top of that是個好父親good father。
He is not only a successful entrepreneur but also a scholar; besides this, he is a good father on top of it all.
界 · Boundary
除了…之外…
除了…之外 wraps a noun across two slots inside one sentence (set THIS ITEM aside, speak of the rest). 除此之外 is frozen: 此 has already swallowed the whole prior statement, so it stands alone at the head of the next sentence with nothing bracketed inside. Needs a noun in a slot → 除了…之外; points back at all that was said → 除此之外.
除了…還/也…
Both add more, but 除了…還/也 names the set-aside item in its own bracket within the sentence. 除此之外 carries no item — 此 refers back, and the addition lands in a separate following clause.
他是企業家，也是學者，除了之外，更是好父親。 → 他是企業家，也是學者，除此之外，更是好父親。 (The connective is 除此之外; 此 must hold the reference back — 除了之外 leaves the bracket empty and unbuilt.)
他除此之外喝水，不喝別的。 → 他除了喝水之外，不喝別的。 (To fence one named item inside the sentence, use 除了…之外; 除此之外 only stands at a clause head pointing back at a finished statement.)
除此之外，他不是好父親。 → 除此之外，他更是個好父親。 (除此之外 adds beyond what was said; it does not carve out an exception, so the clause stacks more with 還/也/更, not a denial.)
English besides this / apart from this is one mobile phrase. Chinese fixes 除此之外 as a frozen four-character connective at the clause head, where 此 already stands for the whole prior statement — there is no noun to insert, and the addition must come in the next clause.