What is the difference between accept and except? How do we use accept and except in a sentence?
These are typical questions about these two words. We pronounce them similarly, but they don’t mean the same. Let’s compare confusing words accept and except.
The first thing is that ‘accept’ is a verb while ‘except’ is commonly used as a preposition and a conjunction.
We can accept a present, an invitation, an idea or a plan or even an unpleasant situation. Look at the examples below:
Mary accepted a kitten as a present.
Mary was very angry, but accepted an apology.
My friend was very busy, but he accepted the invitation to my birthday party.
We accepted his idea about traveling to France.
It was difficult to be a newcomer in a company, but my colleagues accepted me finally.
People in big cities accept traffic jams as part of their life.
Except means ‘excluding’. If we have a noun or a noun phrase before 'except' we can also add 'for'.
Look at the examples below:
I like all dog breeds except (for) pit bulls.
Mary won’t tell you anything about her new boyfriend, except that he has graduated from Cambridge.
He would buy that car, except that it costs too much.