Accept and except are two more words that sound similar and can be confusing.
Accept is a verb. It shows action. When you accept something, you take it.
I will accept your invitation.
I hope you can accept my apology.
I accept your excuse, but please don’t let it happen again.
Use except when something gets left out. Except has an x in it. When we get rid of something, we x it out.
Except gets used as both a preposition and a conjunction.
When except is a preposition, it begins a prepositional phrase and is followed by a noun.
Here are sentences with except as a preposition:
I like all vegetables except cabbage. (cabbage is a noun, acting as the object of the preposition)
Everyone in my family has been to Europe except me. (me is a pronoun, acting as the object of the preposition)
When except is a conjunction, it joins two clauses together. Remember, a clause has action in it.
Each of these sentences has two clauses joined by the conjunction except.
I write in my diary every night, except when I’m traveling.
Bob goes running every day, except when it is snowing.
To keep these two words straight, remember that accept and action both start with a. Use accept when you want to show action – someone is taking something that was offered.
Use except when you want to show that something got left out. You can use except as a preposition or a conjunction.