Key Difference: The term Accept refers to taking something offered to us, whereas Except refers to not include. The words Accept and Except are two confusing words in English. These words are homophones and have completely different meanings. Let’s see the explanation to remember the difference between them. Accept means take or receive something willingly. On the other hand, Except means that something has been excluded.
Accept: You have to accept the fact.
Except: I like all sweets except the cake.
 |  |
Accept:
Taking something offered to us
Accept means receiving something with your approval or favor. In other words, to believe or come to recognize something as valid or correct. We can say “to take willingly something that is offered.” Accept is a verb. To give an instance, Sometimes we have to accept the change if we want to move forward. From this statement, we can get the knowledge of acceptance and move forward. Even if it is happy or sad, we have to accept anything and move forward. Let’s see one more example to understand it clearly, I accept the offer which is given by my organization. This statement tells that the person accepts the offer willingly, as it was given by his/her organization.
How Do We Spell the Word Accept?
Phonetics pronunciation of the word Accept is əkˈsɛpt. And this word sounds like the following audio.
Enunciation:
Syllables are phonological building blocks of words. It divides the words into parts that can help you read words more accurately. Let’s see how to split the word affect using syllables. Learning syllables can also help you to spell words correctly.
- The word “Accept” has two syllables.
- It can be divided as “Ac-cept.”
Tense Form of the Word Accept:
The following table will show you three fundamental tense forms and their example sentences for your reference.
| Present | Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| accept/accepts | accepted | accepted |
| She accepts to go on tour with her friends. I accept your apology. | My dad accepted to come with me. We accepted his invitation. | Riya accepted the punishment for her mistake. The police who accepted bribes are to be punished. |
Using “Accept” in sentences:
- Give them a little time to accept the change.
- It was still hard to accept the truth than a lie.
- I happily accept the offer provided by my company.
- You should accept the fact.
- My child accepts to go to school without crying.
Except:
Excludes one thing from the rest
The term Except means other than or excluding. We can use this word as a preposition or verb. When we use it as a verb, it means exclusion from something. It is also used as a conjunction to connect two sentences. It refers to “however” or “but.” Let’s see an example to make it clear, everyone is here except the professor. In this statement, every student is assembled together, but the professor is missing. The word except always excludes or separates one thing from the rest.
How Do We Spell the Word Except?
Phonetics pronunciation of the word Except is ɪkˈsɛpt,ɛkˈsɛpt. And this word sounds like the following audio.
Enunciation:
Syllabification refers to the process of division of words into smaller parts. It is commonly known as syllables. With its help, you can easily read and spell the word accurately. Here, you will see how to split the word “Except” by syllables.
- The word “Except” has two syllables.
- It can be divided as “Ex-cept.”
Tense Form of the Word Except:
The below-given table will show you three fundamental tense forms with some example sentences for your understanding.
| Present | Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| except/excepts | excepted | excepted |
| We are not together except on weekends. Yesterday, there was no one in the lift except myself. | I excepted him from the party. Every child enjoys eating chocolate, Ron excepted. | The shop keeps open all days, Sundays are excepted. Out of the ordered list, we have excepted some things due to some reasons. |
Using “Except” in sentences:
- Everything was in good condition in this home except the garden.
- Ronnie told everyone about the birthday party except me.
- All the classmates except Robert attended the reunion.
- She gets all the desired things except the car.
- I tell her everything except my school life.
Compare: Accept Vs Except
This table will show you the contradiction between the words Accept and Except.
| Accept | Except | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It refers to taking something offered to us. | The term Except means other than or excluding something from the rest. |
| Synonym | Receive, obtain, undertake, bear, manage, take on, endorse, follow. | Excluding, omitting, but, other than, apart from, aside from, outside of |
| Antonym | Refuse, reject, turn down, defy. | include, insert, take in, enter |
| Parts of Speech | Verb | Preposition or Conjunction |
| Etymology | late Middle English: from Latin acceptare, frequentative of accipere ‘take something to oneself’ | late Middle English: from Latin except- ‘taken out’ |
| Examples | She accepts the gift. You have to accept the fact. George decided to accept the offer that is given by the organization. | No one was interested in going to the award ceremony except betty. Everyone started to write the exam except George. My friends are ready to go on a vacation trip except for Lilly. |
Resources and References:
Resources: Cambridge Dictionary (Accept, Except), Merriam-Webster (Accept, Except), Collins Dictionary (Accept, Except), Dictionary.com (Accept, Except)
Reference: Dictionary.Cambridge.org[1], Merriam-Webster.com[2], CollinsDictionary.com[3], Dictionary.com[4].