Hear/here and accept/except | Frequently confused words | Usage | Grammar

Hello grammarians! Today, we're going to talk about two sets of frequently confused words: hear and here, and accept versus except.

These words are pronounced very similarly to one another, but they have very different meanings. So, what I'm going to try and do is define these words for you and then come up with mnemonic devices—memory aids—to help you keep them straight.

The word "hear" (h-e-a-r) is a verb, and it means to listen to, to sense something with your ears. The word "here" (h-e-r-e) is an adverb, and it signals that something is close by.

So, an example for the verb "hear" is to say, "I hear, I don’t know, bird song. I hear bird song! Oh, so lovely! There's our beautiful bird; there's its beautiful song, and we're hearing it now."

In order to remember that h-e-a-r involves listening, I like to point out that it actually contains the word "ear," the very device that we use to hear things in the first place. That's a human ear! Alright, there’s your earlobe, eutragus, your scaphoid fossa—parts of the ear.

So, just remember that "hear" contains the word "ear."

Now, "here," the adverb, let’s use this in an example: "The secret treasure should be right here." To keep this one straight, I like to remember that "here" rhymes with "near," which is what it means. Right? When something is here, it's directly next to you or near you.

So, for "here" with an "a," there’s an "ear" in it too, but with "here" with an "e," it's its nearness to you.

Next, the words "accept" and "except." These are pronounced very slightly differently. So, "accept" here is a verb, and it means to go along with or to receive; as in, "I accept this gift in the name of Spain."

"Except," on the other hand, is a conjunction and a preposition, which can kind of be used the same way that "but" is used—sort of in an everything-but way. So, for example, "I like every vegetable except zucchini," which isn't true; I like zucchini a great deal! But you can see how it's being used like "but." It’s kind of exclusionary, which is how we're going to tell the difference between these two words.

This gives us the basis for our mnemonic. So, remember that "accept" is spelled e-x-c-e-p-t, which is also the first three letters of a similar word: "exclude."

So, "accept"—exclude stuff! And "accept" is spelled a-c-c-e-p-t, so we're going to say that's very similar to "access."

So, "accept" with an "a" brings something in, and "except" with an "e" keeps something out.

You can learn anything! David out.