Confusing Words: Except (verb) and Accept (verb)
Meaning:
Except (not including; other than.)
Accept (consent to receive or undertake (something offered).)
Except vs Accept Clarification: Accept versus except are homophones. It means that they have same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings
Except vs Accept – What is the Difference, Definition & Meanings?
Accept and except are homophones:
Homophones are the words that have same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings like I have given an example of knew and new.
Now, coming toward our confusing words accept and except.
Definition and examples of accept or except:
‘Accept is a verb.’
Accept
Meaning to receive, take or to have something.
- I was helpless, that’s why I accepted his proposal.
- A lot of shops won’t accept cheques unless you have a cheque card with you. – Reference (Cambridge Dictionary)
- I can’t accept this kind of rude behavior from my friends.
So, from the above examples, you are now clear that accept is a verb that has a very clear meaning.
On the other hand, except is not accept. It does not mean to receive or to take something.
Except is a verb; a conjunction; and sometimes used as a preposition too.
Except
meaning to exclude; to omit; or apart from.
You can use except differently in different situations. As I mentioned before that except can be used as a verb and sometimes as a preposition as well. Except as a verb is also used but in rare cases. Let us see that how except can be used in different situations.
As a preposition:
- I have prepared all the yummy dishes for dinner, except rice.
- As a conjunction:
- She knows nothing about her except that she is young and beautiful.
– English Grammar.org
- As a verb:
- The company excepted the supply of unhygienic food because of some serious diseases.
Thus, from the above examples, you have come to know that you use except frequently as a preposition and a conjunction but not as a verb. But, don’t get confused again as it is not wrong to use except as a verb.
What Did You Learn?
Accept versus except are homophones. It means that they have same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings. Accept can be used as a verb; but in terms of except, it is slightly different. Except is used in three different situations; as a verb, a conjunction, and a preposition.
Now, you can never forget that accept means to receive, to take or to have something from someone and it is always a verb. On the other hand, except means apart from, to omit, or to exclude and you can remember it with –ex as both except and exclude has -ex.