


































Education, Language and Sociology Research 

ISSN 2690-3644 (Print) ISSN 2690-3652 (Online) 

Vol. 4, No. 1, 2023 

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21 
 

Original Paper 

A Comparative Analysis of Except and Except for in the COCA 

Namkil Kang1 

1 Far East University, South Korea 

 

Received: February 17, 2023    Accepted: February 28, 2023    Online Published: March 9, 2023 

doi:10.22158/elsr.v4n1p21           URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/elsr.v4n1p21 

 

Abstract 

The ultimate goal of this paper is to show how similar except and except for are in the Corpus of 

Contemporary American English (COCA). A point to note is that except and except for exhibit the same 

pattern in six genres, whereas they show a different pattern in two genres. What this suggests is that 

except is 75% the same as except for in the genre analysis of the COCA. A further point to note is that 

except and except for exhibit the lowest similarity in the fiction genre, whereas they reveal the highest 

similarity in the spoken genre. The COCA clearly shows that except people is the most preferable one 

among Americans, followed by except death, except Mr, and except water, in that order. The COCA 

further shows that except for people (45 tokens) is the most preferable one for Americans, followed by 

except for Mr, except for cases, and except for things, in that order. Finally, this paper argues that 

21.95% of 41 nouns are the collocations of both except and except for. This amounts to saying that 

except is 21.95% the same as except for in the analysis of 41 collocations. 

Keywords 

Euclidean distance, token, COCA, collocation  

 

1. Introduction 

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of except and except for in the 

Corpus of Contemporary American English. First, we aim to compare the use of except and that of 

except for in the eight genres of COCA. We, by comparing them, can see how similar except and except 

for are in the eight genres of the COCA. Put differently, we, by analyzing the ranking of except and 

except for in the eight genres of the COCA, can see how similar they are. Second, we aim to measure 

the distance between except and except for in the eight genres of the COCA. More specifically, we, by 

using the Euclidean distance, see how close except and except for are. Note that the more except and 

except for are close, the more they exhibit a similarity. Third, we aim at comparing the collocation of 

except and that of except for in the COCA. By comparing the collocations of except and except for in 

the COCA, we can see how similar they are in the COCA. Finally, we aim to capture the degree of the 



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similarity between except and except for by using the software package NetMiner. By linking the 

collocations of except and except for, we can calculate the degree of the similarity between except and 

except for.  

 

2. The COCA and Eight Genres  

In what follows, we aim to inquire into the similarity between except and except for in the eight genres 

of the COCA. Table 1 shows the frequency of except and except for in the COCA: 

 

Table 1. Frequency of Except and Except for 

GENRE ALL BLOG WEB TV/M SPOK FIC MAG NEWS ACAD 

Except 97,441 14,256 16,003 12,686 7,757 20,688 9,740 7,971 8,310 

Except 

for 

27,234 3,440 3,580 3,467 2,139 6,857 2,778 2,455 2,518 

 

It is probably worthwhile noting that the overall frequency of except in the COCA is 97,441 tokens, 

whereas that of except for is 27,234 tokens. Put differently, the overall frequency of except is three 

times higher than that of except for. It seems thus reasonable to hypothesize that Americans prefer 

using except to using except for.  

Perhaps it is worthwhile pointing out that except and except for rank first (20,688 tokens vs. 6,857 

tokens) in the fiction genre. This in turn means that the types except and except for exhibit a similarity 

in the fiction genre. Simply put, they exhibit the same pattern in rank-one. It should be pointed out, 

however, that in the fiction genre, the use of except is by far higher (three times) than that of except for. 

We take this as meaning that American writers prefer using except to using except for in their novels.  

It is particularly noteworthy that except and except for rank second (16,003 tokens vs. 3,580 tokens) in 

the web genre. Again, the types except and except for show the same ranking in the web genre, thereby 

revealing a similarity. It must be stressed, however, that in the web genre, the use of except (16,003 

tokens) is even higher (more than four times) than that of except for. This in turn implies that except 

(16,003 tokens) may be preferred over except for (3,580 tokens) by American web designers.  

It is interesting to note that except ranks third (14,256 tokens) in the blog genre, whereas except for 

ranks third (3,467 tokens) in the TV/movie genre. Quite interestingly, the types except and except for 

show a different pattern, thus exhibiting no similarity. When it comes to the blog genre, the use of 

except (14,256 tokens) is much higher (more than four times) than that of except for (3,440 tokens). We 

take this as indicating that American bloggers prefer using except to using except for. It is worth 

observing, on the other hand, that in the TV/movie genre, the use of except (12,686 tokens) is still 

higher (more than three times) than that of except for (3,467 tokens). We take this as implying that 

American celebs like using except.  



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It is worth mentioning that except ranks fourth (12,686 tokens) in the TV/movie genre, whereas except 

for ranks fourth (3,440 tokens) in the blog genre. What this suggests is that the types except and except 

for show a mismatch between themselves with respect to their ranking, hence exhibiting no similarity.  

It is interesting to point out that except and except for rank fifth (9,740 tokens vs. 2,778 tokens) in the 

magazine genre. More interestingly, the types except and except for exhibit the same ranking in the 

magazine genre, thereby showing a high degree of similarity in the magazine genre. It must be pointed 

out, on the other hand, that in the magazine genre, the use of except (9,740 tokens) is even higher (more 

than three times) than that of except for (2,778 tokens). This in turn shows that American journalists are 

fond of using except (9,740 tokens) rather than using except for (2,778 tokens). 

It is worth pointing out that except and except for rank sixth (8,310 tokens vs. 2,518 tokens) in the 

academic genre. Again, the two types reveal the same property, thus showing a similarity again. It 

should be noted, however, that in the academic genre, the use of except (8,310 tokens) is by far higher 

(more than three times) than that except for (2,518 tokens). It can thus be inferred that teachers in 

America prefer using except rather than using except for.  

It is interesting to observe that except and except for rank seventh (7,971 tokens vs. 2,455 tokens) in the 

newspaper genre. Exactly the same can be said of rank-seven. That is to say, the two types show the 

same property in rank-seven, thus revealing the similarity between them. It is important to mention, on 

the other hand, that the use of except (7,971 tokens) is still higher (more than three times) than that of 

except for (2,455 tokens). It seems thus reasonable to assume that American journalists are keen on 

using except.  

It is worth noting that except and except for rank eighth (7,757 tokens vs. 2,139 tokens) in the spoken 

genre. Again, the types except and except for exhibit the same ranking in the spoken genre, hence 

revealing a similarity in rank-eight. It is significant to note, however, that the use of except (7,757 

tokens) is much higher (more than three times) than that of except for (2,139 tokens). This in turn 

indicates that Americans like using except in daily conversation. To sum up, except and except for 

exhibit the same pattern in six genres, whereas they show a different pattern in two genres. From all of 

this, it seems clear that except is 75% the same as except for in the genre analysis of the COCA. 

Now attention is paid to the percentage of except and except for in each genre: 



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Figure 1. Percentage of Except 

 

As exemplified in Figure 1, the fiction genre is the most influenced by except, followed by the web 

genre, the blog genre, the TV/movie genre, the magazine genre, the academic genre, the newspaper 

genre, and the spoken genre, in that order. 

 

 

Figure 2. Percentage of Except for 

 



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As illustrated in Figure 2, the fiction genre is the most influenced by except for, followed by the web 

genre, the TV/movie genre, the blog genre, the magazine genre, the academic genre, the newspaper 

genre, and the spoken genre, in descending order.  

 

3. The Euclidean Distance 

In the following, we aim at investigating the similarity between except and except for in the eight 

genres of the COCA. Note, to begin with, that the Euclidean distance provides the similarity index 

between two types (except vs. except for) in each genre. It indicates that the more the distance between 

two types is close, the more they exhibit a similarity. Now let us define the Euclidean distance as 

follows: 

 

(1) Euclidean distance 

 

Now attention is paid to the distance between except and except for in each genre: 

 

Table 2. Euclidean Distance between Except and Except for 

GENRE BLOG WEB TV/M SPOK FIC MAG NEWS ACAD 

Percentage 

of except 

14.63 16.42 13.01 7.96 21.23 9.99 8.18 8.53 

Percentage 

of except for 

12.63 13.14 12.73 7.85 25.17 10.2 9.01 9.24 

Euclidean 

distance 

2 3.28 0.28 0.05 3.94 0.21 0.83 0.71 

 

It is important to note that except is the furthest from except for in the fiction genre. To be more specific, 

the Euclidean distance between except and except for is 3.94, which is the highest among eight genres. 

This in turn suggests that the types except and except for reveal the lowest similarity. It is significant to 

note, on the other hand, that except is the nearest to except for in the spoken genre. More specifically, in 

the spoken genre, the Euclidean distance between except and except for is 0.05, which is the lowest 

among eight genres. This in turn implies that the types except and except for exhibit the highest 

similarity in the spoken genre. As exemplified in Table 2, the spoken genre reveals the highest 

similarity and the magazine genre, the TV/move genre, the academic genre, the newspaper genre, the 



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blog genre, the web genre, and the fiction genre follow. Thus, it can be concluded that except and 

except for show the highest similarity in the spoken genre.  

 

4. The Collocations of Except and Except for in the COCA 

In what follows, we aim to examine the collocations of except and except for in the COCA. Also, we 

compare the collocation of except and that of except for in the COCA. In both cases, our list was cut off 

in the top 25:  

 

Table 3. Collocation of Except in the COCA 

Number Collocation  Frequency 

1 Except people 72 

2 Except death 46 

3 Except Mr 41 

4 Except water 34 

5 Except Christmas 33 

6 Except oil 27 

7 Except time 27 

8 Except food 24 

9 Except money 22 

10 Except sleep 21 

11 Except play 20 

12 Except wait 20 

13 Except sex 19 

14 Except treason 19 

15 Except watch 19 

16 Except work 19 

17 Except men 18 

18 Except talk 18 

19 Except family 17 

20 Except lag 16 

21 Except Islam 15 

22 Except thanksgiving 15 

23 Except things 15 

24 Except apple 14 

25 Except chicken  14 



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It is important to mention that the expression except people has the highest frequency (72 tokens) in the 

COCA. This in turn means that the collocation people along with except is the most preferred one for 

Americans. It is interesting to consider the expression except death. It is worthwhile noting that the 

expression except death ranks second (46 tokens) in the COCA. This in turn implies that it is the 

second most widely used one (46 tokens). It is interesting to note that the expression except Mr ranks 

third (41 tokens) in the COCA. It is worth observing, on the other hand, that the expression except 

water ranks fourth (34 tokens) in the COCA. This in turn indicates that it is the fourth most occurred 

one (34 tokens). It seems thus reasonable to hypothesize that except people is the most preferable one 

among Americans, followed by except death, except Mr, and except water, in that order. It should also 

be pointed out that except time ranks sixth (27 tokens) in the COCA, whereas except money ranks ninth 

(22 tokens). To sum up, the expression except people is the most preferable one for Americans (72 

tokens).  

Now attention is paid to the collocation of except for: 

 

Table 4. Collocation of Except for in the COCA 

Number Collocation  Frequency 

1 Except for people 45 

2 Except for Mr 22 

3 Except for cases 20 

4 Except for things 18 

5 Except for emergency 16 

6 Except for Mrs 16 

7 Except for emergencies 15 

8 Except for defense 14 

9 Except for work 14 

10 Except for food 12 

11 Except for money 12 

12 Except for age 11 

13 Except for children 11 

14 Except for school 11 

15 Except for family 10 

16 Except for parts 10 

17 Except for aunt 9 

18 Except for college 9 

19 Except for compliance 9 

20 Except for holidays 9 



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21 Except for right 9 

22 Except for water 9 

23 Except for gender 8 

24 Except for sex 8 

25 Except for provisions  8 

 

It is significant to note that the expression except for people has the highest frequency (45 tokens). This 

in turn shows that except for people is the most preferred (45 tokens) by Americans. It should be noted, 

on the other hand, that except Mr ranks third (41 tokens) in the COCA, whereas except for Mr ranks 

second (22 tokens). This provides confirming evidence that except and except for exhibit a similar 

property with respect to the use of their collocation. It is interesting to observe the expression except for 

cases. The expression except for Mr is followed by the expression except for cases and the latter ranks 

third (20 tokens) in the COCA. It seems thus safe to assume that the expression except for cases is the 

third most widely used one (20 tokens) in the COCA. It should also be emphasized that except for 

things ranks fourth (18 tokens) in the COCA. It seems thus reasonable to hypothesize that except for 

people (45 tokens) is the most preferable one for Americans, followed by except for Mr, except for 

cases, and except for things, in that order. Additionally, it must be noted that except work ranks 

thirteenth (19 tokens) in the COCA, whereas except for work ranks eighth (14 tokens). To sum up, 

except people and except for people have the highest frequency, respectively, which in turn implies that 

they are the most preferable ones for Americans.  

Now let us turn our attention to the visualization of the collocations of except and except for. We 

attempt to capture the collocations of except and except for in terms of the software package NetMiner. 

By linking their collocations, we can see how similar except and except for are. As exemplified in 

Figure 3, 16 nouns are linked to except and except for, respectively. Most importantly, only 9 nouns are 

linked to both except and except for. Note that in both cases, our list was cut off in the top 25:  

 



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Figure 3. Visualization of the Collocations of Except and Except for 

 

It must be emphasized that only 9 of 41 nouns are linked to both except and except for. These nouns are 

the collocations of both except and except for. The nine nouns linked to both except and except for are 

work, Mr, food, people, money, family, sex, water, and things. From all of this, it seems evident that 

21.95% of 41 nouns are the collocations of both except and except for. It seems thus reasonable to 

conclude that except is 21.95% the same as except for in the analysis of 41 collocations. For the 

visualization of synonyms and keywords, see Kang (2022a, 2022b, 2022c, 2022d, 2023a, 2023b). 

 

5. Conclusion  

To sum up, we have shown how similar except and except for are in the COCA. In section 2, we have 

argued that except and except for exhibit the same pattern in six genres, whereas they show a different 

pattern in two genres. It seems thus clear that except is 75% the same as except for in the genre analysis 

of the COCA. In section 3, we have further argued that except and except for exhibit the lowest 

similarity in the fiction genre, whereas they show the highest similarity in the spoken genre. In section 

4, we have contended that except people is the most preferable one among Americans, followed by 

except death, except Mr, and except water, in that order. We have also contended that except for people 

(45 tokens) is the most preferable one for Americans, followed by except for Mr, except for cases, and 

except for things, in that order. Finally, we have shown that 21.95% of 41 nouns are the collocations of 



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both except and except for. This in turn implies that except is 21.95% the same as except for in the 

analysis of 41 collocations. 

 

References 

Kang, N. (2022a). A Comparative Analysis of Search for and Look for in Four Corpora. Advances in 

Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(3), 168-178.  

Kang, N. (2022b). A Comparative Analysis of Impressed by and Impressed with in Two Corpora. 

Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 12(5), 819-827.  

Kang, N. (2022c). On Speak to and Talk to: A Corpora-based Analysis. Theory and Practice in 

Language Studies, 12(7), 1262-1270. 

Kang, N. (2022d). On Speak with and Talk with: A Corpora-based Analysis. International Journal of 

Social Science and Human Research, 5(8), 3354-3360. 

Kang, N. (2023a). K-Pop in BBC News: A Big Data Analysis. Advances in Social Sciences Research 

Journal, 10(2), 156-169. 

Kang, N. (2023b). K-Dramas in Google: A NetMiner Analysis. Transaction on Engineering and 

Computing Sciences, 11(1), 193-216.  

 


