Except

I know of no other rule than to leave it to your ear.

CB

Hi,

I'm afraid our foreigner ears don't work when it comes to English . Do you think if I am to use the "except" in all cases I'll get into a big trouble? Would the people I talk to need to correct me as their ears wouldn't accept this big mistake? Is it a big deal?

Thanks...

I just saw an informative thread. I almost got the difference Thanks though..

johnerCould you give me a piece of advice to figure out whether to use "except" or "except for" ? I assume both have the same meaning.

The use of the preposition “for” in “except for” is optional when it’s followed by a noun phrase:

“Everyone liked it except Kim / except for Kim”. "Kim" is noun phrase, so both are correct; they have the same me

Hi,

BillJThe use of the preposition “for” in “except for” is optional when it’s followed by a noun phrase. But when “except” is introducing other kinds of phrases, or clauses, “for” should not be used

So we can easily say "Let's use except for everything and not put us in trouble" as long as our aim is to speak an average English.

My ear is saying the "for" is not optional in this case:

Except for Mike, everyone was on time for the party.

If I rearrange it, it becomes optional:

Everyone was on time for the party, except (for) Mike.

Everyone except Mike was on time for the party.

Everyone, except for Mike, was on time for the party.

Is it safe to say that if "except" prec

Just to clarify my previous post, is it safe to say that if "except" precedes a noun phrase, "for" is required when "except" starts the sentence, but is optional when "except" is in the middle or at the end of the sentence?