「Except」? 「Accept」?

 

最近看到一位學生的電郵，發現他把「except」和「accept」兩個字混淆了。 書寫上「except」和「accept」的串法不一樣，但發音卻幾乎相同 –「except」的發音是 /ɪk’sɛpt/；「accept」的發音是/ək’sɛpt/。 它們都有兩個音節，重音都在第二個音節，而該重音音節的發音同樣是/sɛpt/。 唯一的細微發音分別，在於它們非重音的第一個音節中的母音。 「Except」第一個非重音音節的母音，通常被標記為 /ɪ/；而在「accept」中，該音節的母音通常標記為英文非重音音節中最常見的母音，也就是 /ə/（術語為「schwa」--音質最「弱」的母音）。   雖然它們的第一個音節是不同的母音，但到了實際發音時，這差異其實是很細的，因為這音節是非重音的，而事實上，當 /ɪ/ 出現在非重音的音節時，發音時幾乎就和 /ə/一樣輕。 所以你大可以把它們的發音當成是相同的，說話時也不用擔心會因發音問題而混淆兩者。 但書寫時則不一樣，它們的串法各異，並不能互換使用。  「Except」一詞有兩種不同的文法功能。第一種是作為介詞，表達「除了」的意思，並會與名詞組組成介詞組。例如： Everyone went to the party except John. 除了 John，大家都去了派對 介詞組「except John」是子句「everyone went to the party」的副詞修飾語，表達出「除了John以外」，大家都去了派對。 而「except」的另一個版本在文法角色上有點微妙。我們來看看這例子： I would go with you, except I have to work.  我本來會跟你去的，只是我得上班。 這裡的「except」像是扮演連接詞角色，引出了另一個（包括主語和限定動詞的）完整子句「I have to work」。 但我剛也說了，作為連接詞的「except」在文法功能上是有點微妙的，因為新的子句其實是由「that」一詞標記的（就如其他「that-」嵌入式子句一樣）。這裡的「except」其實是與一個「that-」子句一起組成了詞組： I would go with you, except that I have to work.  我本來會跟你去的，只是我得上班。 所以從整體看來，這裡的「except」同樣是個介詞，只是和它組合成介詞組的那個名詞組，是一整個「that-」子句來充當的。 這些文法細節我們大可不必深入去談論，最重要只是知道，當我們在一個「that-」子句前使用「except」，它所表達的意思便會是「只是」。另外，「that」也經常會被省略（就如其他一般的「that-」子句中），因此把「except」想成連接詞角色也是可以的： I would go with you, except (that) I have to work.  我本來會跟你去的，只是我得上班。 「Except」在這方面的用途頗為廣泛。它可以與由其他連接詞（例如「when」、「before」、「during」等）引出子句/詞組去組成詞組： I can eat anything I like except before competitions.  除了在比賽前，我（其他時侯）什麼都可以吃。 He’s always cheerful, except when he’s tired. 他總是很開朗，除了他累的時候。 至於「accept」則完全不同，是一個意思為「接受」的動詞。我可以介紹的也不多，因為它跟一般動詞的功能並無區別。例如： She accepted the job offer. 她接受了那份工作邀請。 那麼下次大家就多注意一點，以免混淆這些詞彙了。

小練習： 以下句子中的應該是「except」還是「accept」？ He __________ their apology. I don’t usually eat dessert, __________ when it’s chocolate.

“Except”? “Accept”? I recently saw a student mix up the words “except” and “accept” in an email, so I thought I would write a short newsletter about these two words.  The words “except” and “accept” are spelled differently in the writing system, but their pronunciations are almost identical -- “except” is pronounced /ɪk’sɛpt/, and “accept” is pronounced /ək’sɛpt/. Both of these two-syllable words are stressed in the second syllable, and their stressed syllables are identical in pronunciation -- both /sɛpt/.  The only slight difference between their pronunciations is in the vowel in the unstressed first syllable. In “except,” the vowel in the first unstressed syllable is usually transcribed as /ɪ/, and, in “accept,” the vowel in this syllable is usually transcribed as the most commonly occurring vowel in unstressed syllables in English words, as in, /ə/ (called the “schwa”).  Although these two words supposedly have two different vowels in their respective first unstressed syllables, this difference is quite negligible in real speech because that “differing” syllable is unstressed. And, in truth, the vowel /ɪ/, when pronounced in an unstressed syllable, is basically equally “weak” in quality as the common unstressed vowel /ə/.  All of this is to say that you can basically think of these two words as identical in pronunciation. You don’t need to worry about mixing them up in speech. However, in writing, these two words are represented by two different “spellings,” and, as such, cannot be used interchangeably.  The word spelled “except” has two versions with different grammatical functions. There is a preposition “except” which expresses the meaning of “除了” and forms prepositional phrases with noun phrases. For example:  Everyone went to the party except John. 除了 John，大家都去了派對 The prepositional phrase “except John” acts as an adverbial modifier to this clause “everyone went to the party,” expressing the meaning that, “apart from John,” everyone went to the party. There is another version of the word “except” that is more grammatically nuanced. Here is an example of this version of “except”:  I would go with you, except I have to work.  我本來會跟你去的，只是我得上班。 In this example sentence, the word “except” is acting as a conjunction, because it is introducing another complete clause “I have to work” (with a subject and finite verb). But I say that “except” as a conjunction is “grammatically nuanced” because, actually, the new clause is introduced by the word “that” (like in any other “that”-embedded clause). The “except” actually combines with the “that”-clause to form a phrase:  I would go with you, except that I have to work.  我本來會跟你去的，只是我得上班。 So, seen this way in its entirety, the “except” here is also just a preposition, except that (🙃!) the “noun” that forms a prepositional phrase with it is a whole “that”-clause. Anyway, we don’t need to get into the grammatical details. You just have to know that, when you use “except” in this way in front of a “that”-clause, it expresses the meaning of “只是.” Also, the word “that” is very often omitted just like in any simple “that”-clause, so, in effect, you can think of it as “except” acting as a conjunction itself: I would go with you, except (that) I have to work.  我本來會跟你去的，只是我得上班。 “Except” is quite versatile in this way. It can also form phrases with clauses/phrases introduced by other conjunctions and prepositions like “when,” “before,” “during” etc.:  I can eat anything I like except before competitions.  除了在比賽前，我（其他時侯）什麼都可以吃。 He’s always cheerful, except when he’s tired. 他總是很開朗，除了他累的時候。 Now, the word “accept” is a totally different word. It is a verb that means “接受.” There is not much to say about this verb because it just functions normally. For example:  She accepted the job offer. 她接受了那份工作邀請。 Pay attention to these words in writing in the future, and don’t mix them up!

Mini Exercise:  Should it be “except” or “accept” in these sentences?  He __________ their apology. I don’t usually eat dessert, __________ when it’s chocolate.