including

including — preposition

1. used to introduce a person, thing, or amount that belongs to the group, list, or

1.prepositionA2
Definition

used to introduce a person, thing, or amount that belongs to the group, list, or total that has just been mentioned.

Example

Several students in the class, including Naoko and Kian, passed the test.

including + noun phrase in the middle of a sentence

The meal costs $15, including a drink and a side dish.

including + noun phrase showing what the total covers

Common collocations
  • including but not limited to
  • everything including
  • everyone including
  • including all
  • including the following
Synonyms
  • such as

    Used to introduce examples, not necessarily all members of the group — broader meaning, but often interchangeable in casual speech.

  • as well as

    Adds an extra item to a list but does not emphasise membership in a group the way 'including' does.

  • plus

    More informal; used in everyday speech to add one more item to a list.

Antonyms
  • excluding

    Direct opposite — signals that the item is NOT part of the group or total.

  • without

    Shows that something is absent or not included; more general than 'excluding'.

Grammar Patterns

including + noun / noun phrase

Usage Note

Commonly followed by a noun or noun phrase. Unlike 'such as', which introduces examples, 'including' can refer to actual members of a set. In formal writing, 'including but not limited to' is used before a list that gives examples without claiming these are all the items.

Common Mistakes

The price is $10, included tax.
The price is $10, including tax.
Use 'including' (the preposition), not 'included' (the past participle), before the item that is part of the total.
I like fruits, such as apples and including oranges.
I like fruits, including apples and oranges.
Don't combine 'such as' and 'including' together; choose one.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: preposition/1

'Including', 'such as', 'as well as', and 'plus' all add items to a statement but differ in focus. 'Including' explicitly signals that the following items belong to the group or total already mentioned — it can introduce either examples or actual members. 'Such as' is more limited: it always presents examples, not an exhaustive list. 'As well as' simply adds extra information without emphasising membership — it feels more like a side note. 'Plus' is informal and typically used in spoken English to list one more item. For exam practice: 'The house has modern features, including central heating and solar panels' (these are actual features). 'The house has modern features, such as central heating' (here central heating is an example of the kind of feature).

including ↗such as ↗as well as ↗plus ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • including everything
  • including everyone
  • including all costs
  • including the following items

Phrases

  • including but not limited to
  • including but not exclusively

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The preposition 'including' comes from the verb 'include', which entered English in the 15th century from Latin 'includere' (in- 'in' + claudere 'to shut'). The original image was of 'shutting something in' or 'enclosing'. Over time, the meaning shifted from physically enclosing something to making something part of a collection or group. The preposition use — 'including' placed before the items that belong to a set — became common in the 18th century.