Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[tokyomocker]

A student asked me the difference between except/except for. Off the top of my head I had no idea. I've typed it into a few search engines but the best I could find were gap fill activities using either one or the other, but with no explanation. Any ideas?

[Mister Micawber]

.
MY UNEDITED NOTES FROM THE INTERNET:

When except is followed by a verb, we usually use the infinitive without �to�.

For example:
You can�t do anything except hope and pray.
He�ll do anything except work.
NOTE: �but� can be used too.

Except is also used with... that�

For example:
In general she was happy, except that she couldn�t spend enough time reading.

When except is followed by a thing or a person, it is usually followed by �for�.

For example:
They enjoyed the whole recital except for the last song.
The party was great, except for the shortage of ice.
------------------------------------------------------------------
An abstract of a journal article on the 'problem' concludes: " 'except' and 'except for' can be used to mean 'with the exception of,' but when it is used to mean 'if it were not for' only 'except for' can be used. Also, it is not advisable to begin a sentence with 'except' unless it is followed by 'for.' "


Several dictionaries treat the phrase as an idiom:

Idiom: except for: Were it not for: I would join you except for my cold.

---------------------------------------------

There is no major difference between 'except' and 'except for'. You use the word 'except' when you want to exclude any person/item that your main statement does not apply to. For example: 'I love all my family - EXCEPT my young brother. He is always rude to the boy friends who come to visit me!'
'Except for' has much the same meaning. It excludes circumstances which may prevent your main statement from being true. For example: 'The disco was completely empty - EXCEPT FOR a few couples who were trying, unsuccessfully, to dance to the DJ's choice of tapes'.
-------------------------------------------------
Here is a general distinction. Both have the same meaning (leaving out, not including) but they are different grammatically. Except is a conjunction sometimes and a preposition sometimes. Except for is a preposition only.

Consider these sentences.

(1) He can do everything except cook.
(2) I know nothing about the controversy except what I read in one newspaper story.

In sentences (1) and (2) we cannot use except for. In sentence (1) the conjunction except is followed by a verb phrase. In sentence (2) the conjunction except is followed by a clause. Because it is a preposition, except for is not possible in these two sentences.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's