Homophones: accept vs except.
The English language is fraught with sound-alike words that look nothing alike on the page (or screen). These homophones have given many writers headaches as they agonize over word choice while composing poems, articles, essays, and stories.
Accept vs. except is one such pair of words. Though not among the most commonly confused homophones, these two words do occasionally find themselves getting mixed up and used incorrectly.
Here’s a quick way to remember the difference between accept vs. except.
Accept
Accept means to take or receive, agree or consent, undertake responsibility, or reconcile oneself to something. In a sense, it means to acknowledge. You can’t accept something without acknowledging it, except in some very far-out circumstances. Since both words start with ac, it should be easy to remember that if acknowledgment is involved, then accept belongs in your sentence.
Which sentence below is correct?
I accept your proposal.
I except your proposal.
Is the proposal acknowledged? Then choose accept.
Except
You know what’s special? The letter x. It’s special because it’s so rarely used. Wouldn’t you agree? We could almost say that the letter x is an exceptional letter. Remember this letter and these words together: x, exceptional, except. Because except always indicates something that is special or different from the others. It means with the exclusion of, with exception, or otherwise. It marks something as unique.
Which sentence below is correct?
Everyone accept me had read the book.
Everyone except me had read the book.
Does the sentence indicate something or someone unique, like one person who didn’t do something that everyone else did? Mark it with an x and use except.
Accept vs. Except (and Other Homophones)
What other homophones can you come up with besides accept and except? Are there any that you find especially perplexing? Share them in the comments!
What about ‘effect’ and affect? I always have trouble with those two.
That one’s coming soon! Stay tuned…
There, their and they’re are my worst enemies!
This one’s in the queue and will be coming up soon.
except & accept are not Homophones ! They don’t have the same pronunciation. And you used except in this example ( I except your proposal.) as a verb,except is a preposition . How come?
Here in the U.S., they are pronounced the same.
I love learning new things.
Me too!
How’s about
Stationary & stationery? The one with the e for envelopes etc
Ooh, good one!
Being partially dyslexic I can’t nit-pick over whether words are verbs, adjectives etc without looking up their meaning if I’m not sure. I came on here to see what your tips were – and they are all good 🙂 – though I do have my own for these two words.
Accept – allowed.
Except – excluded.
I’ll be back to see affect and effect.
Lindsey, your trick for remembering the different meanings of these words is excellent! I’m going to make a note of that. Thanks!