Accept and Except sounds almost exactly the same, especially if you are not a native English speaker, however they have two completely different meanings.
To accept is to take in, say yes, or to willingly approve:
My sister accepted the present I gave her.
The gas station does not accept personal checks.
I was accepted into the college of my choice.
He proposed to his girlfriend and she accepted.
The website didn’t accept my password.
Except is not often used as a verb, and is almost always used as a conjunction or preposition that means but not, or unless (as a condition):
They let everyone into the party, except anyone who wasn’t invited.
I’ll take all of the flowers, except for the ones with dead leaves.
I will come with you to the store except if he comes.
To except (as a verb) is very rarely used, but it means to reject or exclude:
Cost per person is $50, but children are excepted and eat for free.
The confusion between the two words is almost solely due to the fact that they are similar in sound and spelling. Their meanings are very different, however, so my personal tip for you is to remind yourself that “ex” means former or without, so except would mean “without.” Also, if you mean to use a verb, it will almost always be accept.
What other grammar tips would you like to read about? Let us know in the comments!
These types of grammar concepts need to be checked and rechecked. Spell checks do not pick up these errors.
In my other life, I am a teacher and these types of grammar concepts are not only difficult to teach others to learn to use in their writing, but also to understand that there is a unique change in the meaning of the sentence when the words are interchanged.
As the publishers of online information, we need to accept the responsiblity to print the correct version of the these tricky words.
Nice and informative article can you also collaborate the word “due” which sometime mislead me, the word due from vs. due to
thanks and MORE POWER
jolinarodriguez
Thanks for the grammar tip, I always get confused between accept and except.
Hi, this is a common mistake I see often.
Now we just need you to explain inquire and enquire!
Keep up the good work.
Leah