Timeline for Is it acceptable to start a sentence with the preposition 'except' rather than 'except for'?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2020 at 7:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
Commonmark migration
|
|
| Apr 26, 2015 at 14:07 | history | edited | user21820 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
many more fronted examples
|
| Apr 25, 2015 at 15:00 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | I've done a search for 'Except this there is" on Google Books; there don't seem to be many hits, and they mostly seem from nearly 200 years ago. I've found one more recent legal usage and several from dubious sources that one might expect to use less central phraseology. | |
| Apr 25, 2015 at 14:41 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | No; "... it is not advisable to begin a sentence with 'except' unless it is followed by 'for.' " is too broad brush. I'm only assuming they're advising against the 'Except John/me, we all like the Beatles' structure. // You've only given one example (from 1824!) of this form. Except + PP (eg your 2012 quote) is a well-known construction, and 'Except one ...' is not a prepositional usage. I'm surprised this matter doesn't appear to be in CGEL. | |
| Apr 25, 2015 at 14:36 | history | edited | user21820 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 1 character in body
|
| Apr 25, 2015 at 14:31 | comment | added | user21820 | @EdwinAshworth: See my edited answer for two more examples of fronted "except" clauses. I'm sure there are plenty in real-world usage, but I don't have the means of digging them up. =) | |
| Apr 25, 2015 at 14:30 | history | edited | user21820 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
more examples
|
| Apr 25, 2015 at 14:13 | history | edited | user21820 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added one more instance of the usage with the subjunctive
|
| Apr 25, 2015 at 14:10 | comment | added | user21820 | @EdwinAshworth: Yes I can't provide 'authoritative' sources, but anyway your comment above doesn't seem to fit the evidence at all. "with the exception of" only fits the usages of "except for" and those of "except N" where N is a noun phrase, and does not fit the other usages I mentioned in my answer. Also, we have "Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (ASV, Darby, KJV) which agrees with my analysis because "one be born anew" is a subjunctive and hence one cannot use "except for". As in my answer, this is an older usage, but worth taking into account. | |
| Apr 25, 2015 at 13:54 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | Thank you, 218, but I specifically asked for answers supported by evidence from say grammars. // The elimination of redundancy is certainly preferable. I've found since asking this: Li & Hsi: English Language Teaching Journal, v35 n3 p260-63 Apr 1981 ... study of use of ... 'except' and 'except for.' Concludes 'except' and 'except for' can be used to mean 'with the exception of,' but when it is used to mean 'if it were not for' only 'except for' can be used. Also, it is not advisable to begin a sentence with 'except' unless it is followed by 'for.' | |
| Apr 25, 2015 at 9:08 | history | edited | user21820 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 393 characters in body
|
| Apr 25, 2015 at 8:59 | history | answered | user21820 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |