Accept and except sound almost the same, especially in fast speech, but they are different parts of speech with different meanings.

The short answer #

Word Meaning Example
accept (verb) to receive, agree to, or approve Please accept my apology.
except (preposition) not including, but Everyone came except Tom.

Accept #

Accept is a verb. It's something you do.

  • Do you accept credit cards?
  • She accepted the job offer.
  • I accept the terms and conditions.

Except #

Except usually means excluding or apart from.

  • The office is open every day except Sunday.
  • I like all vegetables except olives.
  • Everything works except the login button.

A memory trick #

  • Accept starts like action: it's the verb.
  • Except starts like exclude: it leaves something out.

Common mistakes #

Wrong Right
We don't except returns. We don't accept returns.
All sizes accept small are available. All sizes except small are available.
I except your invitation. I accept your invitation.

Let AI catch it #

Both spellings are real words, so spell check stays quiet. AI Grammar Checker reads the whole sentence and fixes accept and except in context.