excepts

Excepts is the third-person singular present tense of the verb to except, meaning to exclude or to carve out from a general statement or rule. The base form except comes from the Latin excipere, via Old French excepter, and entered English with the sense of taking out or excluding.

In ordinary usage, except is most often a preposition or conjunction: "Everyone agreed except John," "The store is open daily except Sundays," with the sense of excluding a particular person, item, time, or circumstance. The verb form excepts is used when the subject performs the excluding action: "The policy excepts losses caused by fraud," "The contract excepts certain items from the warranty." The phrasing can be followed by a noun phrase or a that-clause in some contexts.

In legal writing, except is used to indicate objection or to reserve rights: "The defendant excepts to the findings," or "She excepts to the court's decision" and "Notice of exceptions" may be filed to preserve appellate review. The singular present verb occasionally appears in formal prose, but in everyday English speakers prefer using "except" as a preposition and "to take exception" as a separate phrase when expressing objection.

Common pitfalls include confusing except with accept (to receive), and using excepts in places where except for would be clearer. Also note that except can combine with for to alter scope, as in "except for" clauses.

See also: exception, take exception, excepted clause.