Grammar-Quizzes › Connectors › Coordinators › But not vs. Except (for)

But not vs. Except

State an exception

But not / Except

BUT NOT — COORDINATOR
But not, a coordinator with a negative, is used to exclude something after stating a generalization, using words such as all, every, everything, everybody, etc. (In contrast, negative words such as no, any, nothing, nobody are used with except and but.)
COORDINATES OBJECT N
He likes all vegetables but not carrots. (coordinator) He likes all vegetables, but he doesn't like carrots. (coordinator)
COORDINATES SUBJECT NP
Everyone in our family likes vegetables, but not him. Everyone in our family likes vegetables, but not ~he. Everyone in our family likes vegetables, but he does not. (coordinator)
POLARITIY SENSITIVE — NEGATIVE + BUT NOT
*Nobody eats liver² but not Teresa. Avoid a double negative. Everybody eats liver but not Teresa. Reword with a positive pronoun. Everybody avoids¹ liver but not Teresa. Reword with a negative verb. avoid (V) – keep away from; dislike
COORDINATES OTHER PHRASES AND STRUCTURES
He usually eats sweets but not when someone is looking.
Everyone in our family drinks coffee but not at night.
We have a sugary treat everyday but not during Lent.
He likes honey but not as a sweetener in his tea. (He likes it for other purposes).
*Teresa likes candy but not that she can't eat it because of her diabetes. (that-clause) Teresa likes candy, but she can't eat it because of her diabetes.

EXCEPT / BUT — PREPOSITION
Except and but, in the examples below, express exclusion after a positive or negative generalization is made. They are both prepositions in this usage. An object pronoun (him, her, them, us,me) is used after except for. And for can be omitted before a noun or a noun phrase.
MODIFIES OBJECT NOUN — END V. BEGINNING OF CLAUSE
He likes all vegetables except (for) carrots. (PP – placed end of clause) He likes all vegetables but carrots. (PP – placed end of clause) Except (for) carrots, he likes all vegetables. (PP – place before clause) *But carrots, he likes all vegetables. (does not permit front placement)
MODIFIES SUBJECT NOUN
Everyone except (for) him in our family likes vegetables. (PP) Everyone in our family except (for) him likes vegetables. (PP) Everyone in our family likes vegetables except (for) him. (PP) Everyone but him/~he in our family likes vegetables. (PP) Everyone in our family likes vegetables but him. (PP)
NO POLARITY SENSITIVITY — NEGATIVE + EXCEPT / BUT
Everyone avoids¹ liver except (for) Teresa. OK Teresa eats liver. Nobody eats liver except (for) Teresa. OK Teresa eats liver. Nobody eats liver but Teresa. OK Teresa eats liver.
MODIFIES ENTIRE CLAUSE – WITH OTHER PHRASES AND STRUCTURES
He usually eats sweets except when someone is looking. He often eats sweets. Prepositional Complements
Everyone in our family drinks coffee except at night. They drink it during the day.
We have a sugary treat everyday except during Lent. We eat no sweets during this period.
He likes honey except as a sweetener in his tea. He likes it for all other purposes. As – meanings
Teresa likes candy except that she can't eat it because of her diabetes. She doesn't eat candy. That Clause, Clause as Complement to Preposition

EXCEPT / BUT — PREPOSITION

Except and but, in the examples below, express exclusion after a positive or negative generalization is made. They are both prepositions in this usage. An object pronoun (him, her, them, us,me) is used after except for. And for can be omitted before a noun or a noun phrase.

MODIFIES OBJECT NOUN — END V. BEGINNING OF CLAUSE

He likes all vegetables except (for) carrots. (PP – placed end of clause)

He likes all vegetables but carrots. (PP – placed end of clause)

Except (for) carrots, he likes all vegetables. (PP – place before clause)

*But carrots, he likes all vegetables. (does not permit front placement)

MODIFIES SUBJECT NOUN

Everyone except (for) him in our family likes vegetables. (PP)

Everyone in our family except (for) him likes vegetables. (PP)

Everyone in our family likes vegetables except (for) him. (PP)

Everyone but him/~he in our family likes vegetables. (PP)

Everyone in our family likes vegetables but him. (PP)

NO POLARITY SENSITIVITY — NEGATIVE + EXCEPT / BUT

Everyone avoids¹ liver except (for) Teresa. OK Teresa eats liver.

Nobody eats liver except (for) Teresa. OK Teresa eats liver.

Nobody eats liver but Teresa. OK Teresa eats liver.

MODIFIES ENTIRE CLAUSE – WITH OTHER PHRASES AND STRUCTURES

He usually eats sweets except when someone is looking.

He often eats sweets. Prepositional Complements

Everyone in our family drinks coffee except at night.

They drink it during the day.

We have a sugary treat everyday except during Lent.

We eat no sweets during this period.

He likes honey except as a sweetener in his tea.

He likes it for all other purposes. As – meanings

Teresa likes candy except that she can't eat it because of her diabetes.

She doesn't eat candy. That Clause, Clause as Complement to Preposition

*not used / ~borderline usage or awkward sounding; NP – noun phrase; PP –prepositional phrase

¹avoid (V) — the verb carries a negative meaning: tries not to eat or not be near something

Lent (N) – a period before Easter when Christians give up eating a favorite food

liver (N) – an organ in an animal that cleans blood

polarity – in grammar, an element in the sentence that is sensitive to (affected by) a negative word or meaning in the sentence. Some–Any Polarity; Too–Either Polarity.

Also see Besides vs. Except for (setting aside information–including or excluding) and Prepositional Complements.

(Huddleston & Pullum 15 §25 [59], 7 §5.1 [21], 11 §4.8)

But / Except

Before "Do" or Verb + Preposition Phrases

Do nothing but / Interested in nothing but

DO NOTHING BUT + BASE VERB
After do/does/did [everything / nothing / anything] except, a bare infinitive is used (but not after progressive "do").
DO NOTHING	BUT + BARE INFINIITE
Jack does nothing all day	except [to] run and play. but [to] run and play.
Jack doesn't do anything	except [to] have a good time. but [to] have a good time.
Jack did everything	except [to] finish his homework. but [to] finish his homework.
Jack is doing everything (progressive)	except finishing his homework. but finishing his home work.

INTERESTED IN NOTHING BUT + VERB+ING
After a verb and preposition phrase [everything / nothing / anything] + except, a gerund is used.
VERB + PREP	BUT + GERUND
Jack is interested in nothing	except running and playing. but running and playing.
Jack doesn't worry about anything	except having a good time! but having a good time!
Jack looks forward to everything	except finishing his homework. but finishing his homework.
Jack engages in everything	except finishing his homework. but finishing his home work.

bare infinitive — an infinitive in which "to" is not included.

engage in (verbal phrase) — occupy the attention or efforts of person; occupy oneself

Verb + Prep Phrase— see Participial Adj & Prep and Verbs Paired w/ Prepositions Before Gerunds.

But

Expressions

Nothing but / All but

NOTHING BUT
Nothing but is an expression meaning "only". It emphasizes the noun after it.
Jack eats nothing but hamburgers. only hamburgers, lots of them
There was nothing but sugar in the "energy bar". only sugar, lots of it
He was nothing but trouble. only trouble, lots of it

ALL BUT
All but expresses an exception or only this is left. (one, two or little); also very nearly.
He ate all but one hamburger. except
They sold all but two energy bars. except
The food is all but finished. adverb of degree – very nearly Eating this seems all but impossible. adverb of degree – very nearly

If not for / But for

IF NOT FOR
If not for expresses the idea of "if something had not existed/happened"
If not for traffic, I would have been home an hour ago.
If not for your help, I would never have finished on time.

BUT FOR
But for expresses the idea of "if something had not existed/happened".
But for traffic, I would have been home an hour ago.
But for your help, I would never have finished on time.

Who… but

BUT FOR
But for expresses the idea of "if something had not existed/happened".
I was walking down the street, and unexpectedly I saw Jack.
I looked down the street, and luckily I found a parking space!

WHO…BUT
Who / What should...but is used to express surprise at a chance meeting or finding.
I was walking down the street, and who should I see but Jack. a chance meeting
I looked down the street, and what should I find but a parking space! a lucky find

Cannot… but

CANNOT HELP + VERB-ING
A gerund is used after can't help. Can't help means cannot avoid or cannot stop from doing.
We can't help admiring his courage.
Jack can't help drinking. .

CANNOT HELP + VERB-ING

A gerund is used after can't help. Can't help means cannot avoid or cannot stop from doing.

We can't help admiring his courage.

Jack can't help drinking.

CANNOT BUT + VERB
Cannot but expresses the idea of "we can do nothing except ..." (formal). The expression cannot help but is a combination of can't help and cannot but. It is informal.
We admire his courage very much. We cannot but admire his courage. very formal We cannot help but admire his courage. very informal (Omit help.)
We saw clearly that he was drunk. We could not but see that he was drunk. We couldn't help but see he was drunk. (Omit help.)

CANNOT BUT + VERB

Cannot but expresses the idea of "we can do nothing except ..." (formal). The expression cannot help but is a combination of can't help and cannot but. It is informal.

We admire his courage very much.

We cannot but admire his courage. very formal

We cannot help but admire his courage. very informal (Omit help.)

We saw clearly that he was drunk.

We could not but see that he was drunk.

We couldn't help but see he was drunk. (Omit help.)

"A lot has been written about these phrases. To put as charitable a light on the matter as possible, most of what you may read is out of date. We have hundreds of citations for these phrases, and we can tell you two things for certain: these phrases all mean the same thing — "to be unable to do otherwise than" — and they are all standard." (Merriam Webster 220)

"cannot but, cannot help, cannot help but" (MWEEU)
"can't help" (Swan 116.3)

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
*Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except for he eats an occasional fish.
*I would have failed except for your help.
What else have you done today? *Except going to school, I did my homework, went to football practice, cooked dinner and watched TV.

ERROR

*Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except for he eats an occasional fish.

*I would have failed except for your help.

What else have you done today?

*Except going to school, I did my homework, went to football practice, cooked dinner and watched TV.

SOLUTION
Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except for eating an occasional fish dish. (some fish occasionally.) Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except for an occasional fish dish. Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except that he eats an occasional fish dish. (he occasionally eats some fish.)
Nobody helped me except (for) you. I would have failed without your help. (Use without. Except is for excluding one thing from a generalization.)
Besides going to school, I did my homework… Not including going to school, I did my homework… Other than going to school, I did my homework…

SOLUTION

Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except for eating an occasional fish dish. (some fish occasionally.)
Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except for an occasional fish dish.
Bill Clinton is committed to a plant-based diet except that he eats an occasional fish dish. (he occasionally eats some fish.)

Nobody helped me except (for) you.
I would have failed without your help. (Use without. Except is for excluding one thing from a generalization.)

Besides going to school, I did my homework…

Not including going to school, I did my homework…

Other than going to school, I did my homework…

pop question item See Pop-Q "Except for"

Works Cited

Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.

Practice 1

Dietary Choices

Complete the sentence with an exception or generalization.

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 1-8" button.

A vegetarian diet is one in which a person eats everything meat.

Feedback 1

Jack eats a mostly vegetarian diet when he is visiting someone for dinner.

Feedback 2

Most people eat bread if a person has a wheat allergy.

Feedback 3

Nobody really enjoys a diet a person who feels better because of the diet.

Feedback 4

Jack eats an egg every morning on the weekends.

Feedback 5

Jill would like a bowl of ice cream that she cannot eat dairy products.

Feedback 6

Jack does everything to lose weight except the calories he eats.

calories (N) — a unit for measuring the amount of energy food will produce

Feedback 7

After a week of dieting, Jill is excited about everything but more smoothies.

smoothie (N) — a drink or meal made by putting fruit in a blender

Feedback 8

Practice 2

Expressions for exceptions

Complete the sentence with an exception expression.

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 9-14" button.

There was sugar in the "power bar" that I bought.

Feedback 9

10.

two ingredients were a form of sugar.

an ingredient (N) — food that is included in making other food

Feedback 10

11.

I read the wrapper and what should I see twenty different types of sugar products.

a wrapper (N) — a paper or plastic cover around a food product

Feedback 11

12.

a few peanuts, the bar was mostly cereal.

cereal (N) — grain, for example wheat, rice, corn, etc

Feedback 12

13.

A person cannot why these bars are not simply called "candy bars".

Feedback 13

14.

Advertising is packaging.

packaging (N) — putting a product in an attractive wrapper or box; presenting an attractive image

Feedback 14