English attaches “else” to pronouns and adverbs to point to an additional or different one: something else, anyone else, nowhere else, nothing else, somewhere else. French has no single word that does this job. Instead, it builds the same meaning from a small set of parts, chiefly autre (“other”), d’autre (“else”), ailleurs (“elsewhere”) and autre part (“elsewhere”), combined according to whether the sentence is about a thing, a person or a place, and whether it is positive, negative or a question.

The building blocks

• Autre is an adjective meaning “other”. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes: un autre, une autre, d’autres.
• D’autre is the form used straight after an indefinite pronoun to mean “else”: quelqu’un d’autre, rien d’autre.
• Ailleurs is an invariable adverb meaning “elsewhere” or “somewhere else”, and is the more common of the two place words.
• Autre part is another invariable adverb, meaning the same thing as ailleurs but sounding a little more formal.

Something else, anything else

Autre chose is the everyday phrase for “something else” or “anything else”. Quelque chose d’autre means exactly the same thing, built from quelque chose (“something”) plus d’autre. The two are largely interchangeable; autre chose is marginally the more common choice in short, everyday exchanges.

• Je voudrais autre chose. – “I would like something else.”
• Tu as autre chose à faire ? – “Do you have something else to do?”
• Il y a autre chose que je dois te dire. – “There is something else I have to tell you.”
• Parlons d’autre chose. – “Let us talk about something else.”
• Est-ce que tu veux autre chose ? – “Do you want anything else?”
• Je voudrais quelque chose d’autre. – “I would like something else.”
• Il y a quelque chose d’autre que je dois te dire. – “There is something else I have to tell you.”

Nothing else

Rien d’autre is the standard phrase, used together with ne in a negative sentence.

• Il n’y a rien d’autre. – “There is nothing else.”
• Je n’ai rien d’autre à dire. – “I have nothing else to say.”
• Rien d’autre n’a été trouvé. – “Nothing else was found.”
• Elle ne mange rien d’autre le matin. – “She eats nothing else in the morning.”

Someone else, anyone else, no one else

For people, French uses quelqu’un d’autre in positive sentences and questions, and personne d’autre in negative sentences, again with ne.

• Quelqu’un d’autre peut venir ? – “Can anyone else come?”
• Il y a quelqu’un d’autre dans la maison. – “There is someone else in the house.”
• Je voudrais parler à quelqu’un d’autre. – “I would like to speak to someone else.”
• Personne d’autre n’est venu. – “No one else came.”
• Je ne connais personne d’autre ici. – “I do not know anyone else here.”
• Elle n’a parlé à personne d’autre. – “She spoke to no one else.”

For emphasis, d’autre que follows qui or personne.

• Qui d’autre que lui pourrait le faire ? – “Who else but him could do it?”
• Personne d’autre que toi ne compte. – “No one else but you matters.”

Somewhere else, anywhere else, nowhere else, everywhere else

Ailleurs and autre part both mean “elsewhere” or “somewhere else” and are largely interchangeable.

• Allons ailleurs. – “Let us go somewhere else.”
• Allons autre part. – “Let us go somewhere else.”
• Tu as cherché ailleurs ? – “Did you look anywhere else?”
• Il habite ailleurs maintenant. – “He lives somewhere else now.”
• Je ne veux pas vivre ailleurs. – “I do not want to live anywhere else.”

For “nowhere else”, French uses nulle part ailleurs, and for “everywhere else”, partout ailleurs.

• On ne trouve ça nulle part ailleurs. – “You cannot find that anywhere else.”
• Elle n’est allée nulle part ailleurs. – “She went nowhere else.”
• Partout ailleurs, les prix sont plus élevés. – “Everywhere else, prices are higher.”

D’autre part looks related but is a different phrase, and does not mean “elsewhere”. It means “on the other hand” or “besides”, and is often paired with d’une part (“on the one hand”). For place, use ailleurs or autre part only.

To point to one particular other place, rather than “elsewhere” in general, French uses un autre endroit or un autre lieu, both masculine nouns meaning “another place”.

• Prenons un autre endroit pour la réunion. – “Let us pick another place for the meeting.”
• Il a choisi un autre lieu. – “He chose another place.”

Who else, what else, where else, when else, why else, how else

Qui, quoi and où combine naturally with d’autre to ask about people, things and places.

• Qui d’autre est au courant ? – “Who else knows?”
• De quoi d’autre as-tu besoin ? – “What else do you need?”
• Où d’autre pourrions-nous aller ? – “Where else could we go?”

Pourquoi combines with d’autre too, though pour quelle autre raison (“for what other reason”) is the more careful, formal alternative.

• Pourquoi d’autre resterait-il ? – “Why else would he stay?”

Quand and comment do not pair naturally with d’autre. For “when else” and “how else”, French rephrases instead.

• À quel autre moment pourrions-nous nous voir ? – “When else could we meet?”
• De quelle autre façon pourrait-on le faire ? – “How else could we do it?”

Synonyms and alternative expressions

• Ailleurs – “elsewhere”, “somewhere else”, “anywhere else.”
• Autre chose – “something else”, “anything else.”
• Autre part – “elsewhere”, “somewhere else”, “anywhere else.”
• D’autre part – “on the other hand”, “besides.”
• Nulle part ailleurs – “nowhere else.”
• Partout ailleurs – “everywhere else.”
• Personne d’autre – “no one else.”
• Quelque chose d’autre – “something else”, “anything else.”
• Quelqu’un d’autre – “someone else”, “anyone else.”
• Rien d’autre – “nothing else.”
• Un autre endroit – “another place.”
• Un autre lieu – “another place.”

Summary

• French has no direct word for “else”; the meaning is built from autre, d’autre, ailleurs and related forms.
• For things: autre chose or quelque chose d’autre (“something/anything else”), rien d’autre (“nothing else”).
• For people: quelqu’un d’autre (“someone/anyone else”), personne d’autre (“no one else”).
• For places: ailleurs or autre part (“somewhere/anywhere else”), nulle part ailleurs (“nowhere else”), partout ailleurs (“everywhere else”).
• For questions: qui d’autre, quoi d’autre, où d’autre and pourquoi d’autre work directly; quand and comment need to be rephrased instead.
• D’autre part is a separate expression meaning “on the other hand”, not a way of saying “elsewhere”.