except for few

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "except for few" is not correct in standard written English; it should be "except for a few." You can use it when indicating that something applies to all but a small number of exceptions.
Example: "The event was well attended, except for a few who couldn't make it."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

Stem: 0.2--1 dm, glabrous except for few glands proximally.

University of California, Berkeley

The performance showed no difference under different environments except for few conditions in the addition task.

Building and Environment

After surgery, Rojan's oesophagus was ultimately removed except for few centimetres.

The Guardian

He said that the resistance abstains from giving his group weapons except for "few Kalashnikovs".

Independent

Unfortunately, except for few special cases it is not possible to obtain closed-form solution for such controller.

IFAC Proceedings Volumes

Except for few elliptical orbit objects with e > 0.8, the orbit determination errors of the vast majority of the elliptical orbit objects are all less than 10 km.

Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics

EO derived weighted index SQI were comparable for both surface and control section except for few cases and consistent in their correlation with the crop yield, indicating its better performance as compared to PCA.

Geoderma

In Europe the estimation of prevalence of 'agitation" has been difficult due to the lack of standard studies or systematic data collection about this syndrome, except for few transversal studies.

European Psychiatry

While oxidized graphene-containing surfaces are antimicrobial when either basal planes or sharp edges are exposed, graphene-containing surfaces are mainly effective when sharp edges are protruding, except for few studies showing effect due to graphene basal planes when coated over conductive materials.

Carbon

I do not want to formally define non-malleability here, but this essentially means that the bits of the encoded string are "almost" t-wise independent, in the sense that except for few "bad" bits, when we look at t bits, they are close to being uniform.

University of California, Berkeley

All the ground-water samples exceeded the permissible limits of WHO standards except for few.

Applied Water Science

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Always use the grammatically correct form "except for a few" in formal writing to maintain clarity and credibility.

Common error

The most common mistake is omitting the article "a" between "for" and "few". Remember that "few" requires an article to indicate a small quantity, so always use "except for a few" rather than "except for few".

Linguistic Context

The phrase "except for few" functions as a prepositional phrase introducing an exception to a general statement. However, as pointed out by Ludwig AI, the correct form is "except for a few". It serves to specify a limited number of cases that do not conform to the overall pattern or rule.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

Science

57%

News & Media

13%

Formal & Business

5%

Less common in

Academia

5%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "except for few" is frequently used to indicate exceptions to a general statement. However, it is grammatically incorrect; the proper form is "except for a few". Ludwig AI highlights that this phrase appears across various contexts including science, news, and formal business settings, however due to its ungrammatical nature its use is discouraged in professional writing. Alternatives such as "with the exception of a few", "apart from a few", and "aside from a few" are better choices to use.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

with the exception of a few

Replaces "except for" with "with the exception of", adding a slightly more formal tone.

apart from a few

Uses "apart from" instead of "except for", providing a simpler and more direct alternative.

aside from a few

Similar to "apart from", offering a slightly more casual alternative to "except for".

barring a few

Introduces a more conditional tone, implying that the exception is preventing something.

save for a few

Provides a more archaic or literary alternative to "except for".

excluding a few

Emphasizes the act of specifically leaving out a small number.

but for a few

Highlights the contrast between the general rule and the exceptions.

other than a few

Similar in meaning to "except for", but with a slightly different emphasis.

besides a few

Adds the sense of 'in addition to' the exceptions.

with a few exceptions

Rephrases the expression to focus on the existence of exceptions in general.

FAQs

What's the correct way to say "except for few"?

The correct phrase is "except for a few". The article "a" is necessary to indicate a small number of exceptions.

What does "except for a few" mean?

It means that something is generally true, but there are a small number of cases where it is not.

Can I use "with the exception of few" instead of "except for a few"?

No, the correct phrase is "with the exception of a few". You can also use alternatives like "apart from a few" or "aside from a few".

Is there a difference between "except for a few" and "except a few"?

Yes, "except for a few" is the correct and complete phrase. Omitting "for" changes the meaning and creates a grammatically incorrect sentence.