otherwise

«otherwise» in Mova's school dictionary: «if not» or «or else»: what will happen if something is… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb (otherwise); also a joining word (= or else)

meaning for a pupil

1) Otherwise means «if not» or «or else»: what will happen if something is not done. tree →

2) Otherwise means «apart from that» or «in other ways». tree →

3) Otherwise means «differently» or «in a different way». tree →

sense in the lessons

In reasoning and maths word problems, «otherwise» marks the other case: «If it is even, put it in box A; otherwise, put it in box B» — every number that is not even goes in B. In everyday life and safety: «Hold the rail, otherwise you might fall». It helps the reader see a choice and its result. Phrases: «unless told otherwise», «or otherwise», «think otherwise».

examples

• Wear your coat, otherwise you'll get cold. tree →
• Hurry up, otherwise we'll miss the bus. tree →
• The soup was a bit salty, but otherwise it was lovely. tree →
• I was tired, but otherwise I felt fine. tree →
• If the number is even, colour it red; otherwise colour it blue. tree →
• Stay in your seats unless I say otherwise. tree →
• Mum thought it would rain, but Dad thought otherwise. tree →
• Wash your hands, otherwise germs can spread. tree →
• Otherwise you must die upon the spot." tree →

note

In writing, «otherwise» joining two sentences usually comes after a comma or a semicolon: «Hurry, otherwise we'll be late». In logic it covers all cases not already named. Do not write it as two words («other wise»).

In the corpora

• Some of the smallest animals here are the rarest of all, and zoos breed them to save kinds that would otherwise disappear.
• People looking at phones while crossing miss cars they would otherwise have seen.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «otherwise» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.