Accept and Except
What is the difference between accept and except?
To accept most commonly means to receive willingly. Except usually means apart from or excluding.
To accept most commonly means to receive willingly. Except usually means apart from or excluding.
Accept and Except
There is often confusion over the words accept and except. They sound similar, but their meanings are very different.
Accept
To accept is a verb. It has several meanings:To hold something as true.
- The officer accepts your point and has decided to let you off with a caution.
- I accept she may have been tired, but that's still no excuse.
- I accept this award on behalf of the whole cast.
- Do you accept dogs in your hotel?
- Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member. (Groucho Marx)
- The minister would love to accept the invitation to your ball, but she has a prior engagement.
Except
The word except is most commonly seen as a preposition. However, it can also be used a conjunction and very occasionally as a verb.Except as a preposition means apart from, not including, or excluding.
For example:
- I can resist everything except temptation. (Oscar Wilde)
- I have nothing to declare except my genius.
(Oscar Wilde)
- Marge, don't discourage the boy! Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals...except the weasel. (Homer Simpson)
- It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. (Winston Churchill)
For example:
- I would go swimming, except I am scared of big fish.
For example:
- You are excepted from the ruling.
A Quick Test
Except = Excluding
Let the first two letters of except remind you that it means excluding.Common Terms with Accept and Except
Accept- Accept a job
- Accept a compliment
- Accept the challenge
- Accept the consequences
- Except for access
- Except for him
- Except buses and taxis
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