Ask the wise old owl
Accept or except?
These words look and sound similar, but they have different meanings and you need to make sure that you choose the correct one for your sentence.
Accept is a verb, and it means:
1. To agree to take something
Examples: do you accept credit cards?
I hope they will accept my apology.
He is very stubborn and will not accept that he was wrong.
2. To agree to say “yes” to something
Examples: have you accepted my meeting request yet?
I’ve just accepted an invitation to speak at a conference next month.
Except means “not including” or “apart from”:
Everyone was there except for my brother.
The business is open every day except weekends and bank holidays.
Are you still struggling to decide if it’s accept or except?
If you could exchange the word in your sentence with “but not”, you need “except”. If you know that the word is a verb, it’s “accept”.
More articles in this series
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