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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Instead of or except
Hello,
Could you tell me please what is the difference between 'Instead of" and "except"?
This sentence sounded weird because instead of was used.
"If you give the correct answers you will get everything insted of you lives"
And the correct version was: If you give the correct answers you will receive everything except your lives.
Could you tell me please what is the difference between 'Instead of" and "except"?
This sentence sounded weird because instead of was used.
"If you give the correct answers you will get everything insted of you lives"
And the correct version was: If you give the correct answers you will receive everything except your lives.
Top answer
"Except" usually refers to a single named exception. You can have any flavor except vanilla. We have strawberry, chocolate, and mint.
- "Except" usually refers to a single named exception.
- You can have any flavor except vanilla.
- We have strawberry, chocolate, and mint.
- "Instead of" refers to an exchange of one item for another.
- You can have vanilla instead of strawberry if you prefer.
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4 Answers
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"Except" usually refers to a single named exception.
You can have any flavor except vanilla. We have strawberry, chocolate, and mint.
"Instead of" refers to an exchange of one item for another.
You can have vanilla instead of strawberry if you prefer. We have both flavors.
Does this help?
You can have any flavor except vanilla. We have strawberry, chocolate, and mint.
"Instead of" refers to an exchange of one item for another.
You can have vanilla instead of strawberry if you prefer. We have both flavors.
Does this help?
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Hello,
Yes, this is quite helpful. But I still have one question. As you said 'instead of' refers to an exchange of one item for another and in my sentence I had to convey exactly this idea, but they way I used 'insted of" didn't make sense in that sentence. Could you tell me please why?
Yes, this is quite helpful. But I still have one question. As you said 'instead of' refers to an exchange of one item for another and in my sentence I had to convey exactly this idea, but they way I used 'insted of" didn't make sense in that sentence. Could you tell me please why?
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"If you give the correct answers you will get everything instead of your lives."
No, you were not talking about a one-for-one exchange. ("Everything" is not one thing, it is all things.) Also, from the wording, it is not clear that the choice is between everything else or your life. It sounds like the life is lost regardless. Here is an example of "instead of" being used t
No, you were not talking about a one-for-one exchange. ("Everything" is not one thing, it is all things.) Also, from the wording, it is not clear that the choice is between everything else or your life. It sounds like the life is lost regardless. Here is an example of "instead of" being used t
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