Apart and A part
When to use Apart
As an adverb, we use the word apart means separated by a distance in time or space. You can notice that the only difference between the homophones apart and a part is a space between the letters’ ‘a’ and ‘p’. In short, apart is a word but a part is a phrase.
For example:
Our birthdays are only two days apart.
Right: Our birthdays are only two days apart.
Wrong: The hen and its chicks don’t want to be a part even just for 1 minute.
Right: The hen and its chicks don’t want to be even just for 1 minute.
Apart from
When alone, apart acts as an adverb; however, it becomes a preposition when we pair it with ‘from.’ In English grammar, apart from is a preposition which means besides or except for.
For example:
Apart from ice cream, the cake is also my favorite dessert.
She speaks English apart from Spanish.
When to use A part
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. “Part” isn’t just an adverb; it’s a word with various uses.
We say “a part” when we talk about something being a piece of a bigger thing. For example, a stem is a part of a plant, and your leg is a part of your body.
When we “take part,” we mean getting involved or participating among all the other bigger things. For example, the stem takes part in making up the plant, and your legs take part in making up your body.
Most of the time, we pair “part” with the word ‘of.’
For example:
- Our cat is a part of our family.
- After months of working at QQEnglish, I began to feel like a part of the company.
- I’m glad to have been a part of your life
As mentioned earlier, we can focus on matching consonants separately and pair “part” with prepositions. However, it’s essential to note that the article “a” doesn’t always have to be included in the sentence. You can include or exclude it without altering the idea or meaning of the sentence. Take the example above; if there is no “a” in the sentence, it still remains grammatically correct and conveys the same meaning.
For example:
- Our cat is part of our family.
- After months of working at QQEnglish, I began to feel like part of the company.
- I’m glad to have been part of your life.
Conclusion
When should I use apart or a part? The homophones ‘apart’ and ‘a part’ have no difference when used orally, but they have different grammatical functions and cannot be freely interchanged.
‘Apart’ is an adverb that means separately.
‘A part’ is a noun phrase that refers to a singular piece of a greater whole.
In conclusion, it is very easy to notice the difference between the homophones ‘apart’ and ‘a part.’ ‘A part’ should not be used as an adverb since it is made of an article and a noun.
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