"Except" in my sentence

[Rachel Adams]

Is my use of "except" correct?

"There are three additional cottages in the yard. Except the main house tourists can stay in any of them."

 

[GoesStation]

No. You could reorder the sentence and add a preposition to fix it.

 

[Rachel Adams]

No. You could reorder the sentence and add a preposition to fix it.

Do you mean "except for"? Aren't they synonymous?

I read that both can be used https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ru/грамматика/британская-грамматика/except-or-except-for

 

[GoesStation]

Do you mean "except for"? Aren't they synonymous?

I read that both can be used https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ru/грамматика/британская-грамматика/except-or-except-for

The dictionary puts "for" in parentheses ("brackets" in British English) to show it's optional in some cases, but not in this example, which is similar to yours: Except for Louisa, who’s away in Berlin this weekend, we’ll all be at the party.

 

[Rachel Adams]

As you are speaking about three additional cottages, there is no need for the 'Except the main house'

I mean the main cottage of the owner cannot be used by tourists.

 

[Rachel Adams]

The dictionary puts "for" in parentheses ("brackets" in British English) to show it's optional in some cases, but not in this example, which is similar to yours: Except for Louisa, who’s away in Berlin this weekend, we’ll all be at the party.

Aren't they similar? "They all came except Matt."

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/except_1?q=Except

P. S. I am not arguing. I am just trying to understand the difference.

 

[GoesStation]

The terms can be synonyms. They aren't always interchangeable. Few synonyms are.