Difference Between Also and As Well

Also vs As Well

The use of the words ‘also’ and ‘as well’ is an issue to some. The good thing is that they almost have the same exact meanings, whereby the mere switching of either term wouldn’t affect the sentence at all. It’s just that you have to place these terms, in their appropriate places as necessary.

Basically, ‘also’ and ‘as well’ have similar meanings or interpretations. You just have to get used to where they are more comfortably placed. If you look at the sample sentences below, you’ll see that the two terms have the same use and importance in their respective sentences.
Sample 1: Kindly give use your shirt as well.

Sample 2: Kindly also give us your shirt.
All in all, both sentences convey the same meaning, but the first one uses ‘as well’ at the end of the sentence while the second sentence use ‘also’ before the verb. This is often always the case for both terms wherein ‘as well’ has an inclination to be placed at the last part of the sentence, compared to ‘also’ which has an inclination at the beginning or middle part of the sentence.
However, the word ‘also’ has a more liberal sentence placement, compared to ‘as well.’ It is because you can also notice the word ‘also’ being placed at the beginning of the sentence and even at the end (although rare). This is because the word ‘also’ has synonyms like ‘moreover,’ which functions as a sentence connector. So, instead of starting the sentence with ‘Moreover,’ it is okay to substitute it with the word ‘Also.’
‘Also’ is primarily used as an adverb that means ‘in addition,’ ‘too’, ‘as well’ and ‘likewise’ among others. This can be seen in the example ‘“ ‘She is ugly and she is also short!’. ‘Also’ can also serve as a conjunction like in the sentence ‘She is ugly, also short!’ In addition, please take note that, you are prohibited from using the two terms in one single sentence, since it gives a redundant message such as, ‘Kindly also give us your shirt as well.’
‘As well’ is used in the same way as ‘too’, coupled with an affirmative verb. Often, this happens when you are agreeing to something or someone. For example, when person A says ‘I love chocolate!’ then it is appropriate to agree to this person by saying ‘I love it (chocolate) as well’ or ‘I love it too!’
Summary:

1. ‘Also’ has an inclination of being placed at the middle part of near the start of the sentence; usually before the verb.
2. ‘As well’ has an inclination of being placed at the end of the sentence.
3. ‘Also’ has a more liberal positioning in the sentence in the sense that it can sometime be placed at the start or the end of a sentence, whenever appropriate.