Accept vs Except: Receive or Agree, or Leave Out
In TOEIC Part 5, accept and except look similar but describe different actions and relationships.
A useful question is: does the sentence mean receive or agree, or does it mean leave someone or something out?
The quick choice
Build the business picture around the blank. Is someone taking an offer, payment, delivery, condition, or responsibility? Or is one item outside the group?
Accept
Receive or agree: accept an offer, accept payment, accept responsibility, accept the terms.
Except
Leave out or exclude: everyone except the manager, all days except Sunday, every item except one.
The signal to remember
This is the MTC move. Follow the action or group meaning, not the spelling.
The supplier will receive the payment. Choose accept.
The Osaka branch is outside the group. Choose except.
She agreed to the terms.
Friday is excluded from the schedule.
What to notice
This pair can appear in business messages about applications, payments, invitations, offers, schedules, branch offices, and policy exceptions.
Someone receives, approves, or agrees to something.
One item or group is left out.
Use the nearby words
The words beside the blank can help make the meaning clear.
Accept often appears with
Offer, payment, responsibility, invitation, application, proposal, terms.
Except often appears with
All, every, everyone, no one, weekdays, branches, departments.
The hotel receives these forms of payment.
Monday is excluded.
Under pressure, ask one question: take it, or leave it out?
Quick TOEIC check
Choose first. Then read the feedback. Use the quick check: receive or agree, or exclude?
1. The conference centre will ___ registrations until August 12.
2. All employees ___ temporary contractors must attend the safety briefing.
3. The board voted to ___ the revised expansion proposal.
4. The customer-support line operates every day ___ national holidays.
The mistake to avoid
Do not choose from the similar spelling alone or simply select the word that looks more familiar.
Weak choice
Compare the first and second letters and guess.
Better choice
Check the business action: receive or agree, or exclude from a group?
Keep the meaning clear
The words are visually similar and can appear beside familiar business nouns. The meaning around the blank is a more reliable signal than spelling memory.
Do not start with the letters. Start with the required action.
Continue building fast word decisions
These pages also train the test-taker to use the business meaning around the blank instead of choosing by appearance.
Use review to choose the next practice
If a question feels clear during review but was difficult during practice, compare the sentence meaning with the choice you made.
The Learning Block Diagnostic reviews six MTC study patterns: Speed Trap, Memoriser, Over Thinker, Translator, Passive Listener, and Burnout.
Continue reading
Use these pages for more grammar and review practice.