以外（いがい、igaい）
- except for

The Japanese word 以外, read as いがい, means "except," "besides," "other than," or "apart from." It indicates something that is not included or excluded from a group or a specific condition. It essentially signifies an exception or a difference.

⚫︎日本語以外は話せません。 Translation: I can't speak anything other than Japanese. ⚫︎私は野菜[以外]は何でも食べます。 Translation: I eat anything except vegetables. ⚫︎土曜日[以外]はいつも学校です。 Translation: I'm always at school except on Saturdays.

⚫︎以外 is typically used after a noun or a noun phrase. ⚫︎ It always comes after the item or category that is being excluded. ⚫︎ It's important to note what comes before 以外 becomes the point of exclusion. The rest of the sentence describes what is true, or what happens, excluding the item listed before [以外].

⚫︎ 以外 is usually written in kanji and hiragana: 以外. ⚫︎ The kanji 以 means "from" or "since", and 外 means "outside" or "except." ⚫︎ There are no common variations in the okurigana.

⚫︎ 除く (のぞく) - to exclude, to remove ⚫︎ ～を除いて (～をのぞいて) - excluding ~, except for ~ ⚫︎ ～のほかに (～のほかに) - besides ~, in addition to ~ (this emphasizes what *is* included, rather than what is excluded).

There isn't a direct single-word antonym for [以外]. The opposite concept would be inclusion or "including," which could be expressed in several ways, such as: ⚫︎ 全部 (ぜんぶ) - all, everything (when referring to including everything) ⚫︎ すべて (すべて) - all, everything (formal) ⚫︎ Using phrases like "including..." or "as well as..."

試験[以外]は全部終わりました。 ・Translation: Everything is finished except for the exam. ・Explanation: This sentence indicates that the speaker has completed all tasks or processes, but they still have an exam remaining. Everything else is done.

彼[以外]の人は皆、パーティーに来ました。 ・Translation: Everyone except him came to the party. ・Explanation: This sentence tells us that every person was present at the party except for the person indicated by "彼" (him).

The word 以外 comes from the combination of two kanji: 以 and 外. As mentioned earlier, 以 means "from" or "since," and 外 means "outside." Combining these, 以外 literally means "outside of" or "other than," accurately reflecting its meaning of exclusion or exception.