French word

excepté

Pronunciation

IPA/ɛksɛpte/

Meaning

  • prepositionexcept

Example

Il n'y a personne ici, excepté le directeur.

There is no one here except the director.

Illustration for excepté (except)

More examples

Tous sont partis, excepté lui.

Everyone left except him.

Core concept

A single item placed outside an otherwise included group.

Common phrases

  • tout le monde excepté lui

    everyone except him

  • tous excepté les enfants

    everyone except the children

Similar words

sauf: Not including one specified thing among the others.
hors: Beyond or outside the group being discussed.
à part: Apart from the others for separate consideration.
à l'exception de: Used in formal writing to leave out a specified item.

Definition in French

Indique qu'un élément est exclu d'un ensemble ou d'une proposition, équivalant à « à l'exception de » et se plaçant généralement devant le terme exclu.

Word origin

Excepté comes from Latin exceptus, the past participle of excipere, through Old French.

Usage tips

  • Excepté is more formal and less common in everyday speech than sauf, which often expresses the same exclusion.

Opposites

  • y comprisincludingpreposition

Related words

Word lists with this word