Besides vs With the exception of vs Excepting

[chitrangada.maitra]

Hi,

Can someone tell me the appropriate usage of the following?
1. Besides
2. With the exception of
3. Excepting

Thanks,

[RonPurewal]

Hi,

Can someone tell me the appropriate usage of the following?
1. Besides
2. With the exception of
3. Excepting

Thanks,

hi --
first, a request: if you're asking a question that is inspired by a problem from the official guide, please give that problem number (this question is clearly inspired by #18 in the 2nd edition verbal supplement). you are not allowed to reproduce the text of the problem, but the reference would be helpful. thanks!

"besides X" is used somewhat like "in addition to X", but specifically with the meaning that X is not very important in the context of the current sentence.
are there any other benefits of weightlifting, besides the obvious effects on strength and muscle mass? --> note that this question would also work with "in addition to", but the emphasis is a little bit different: the phrasing of this particular question implies that the asker is (at least at the current moment) not terribly concerned with the effects on strength and muscle mass. by contrast, the use of "in addition to" would imply that these effects are also important in the context at hand.

"with the exception of" is a lot like "except for".
with the exception of smith, all of the first-year students passed the exams.

"excepting" is like "with the exception of" or "except for", but it has very restricted usage conventions: it is generally only used in introducing an exception to a negative statement, i.e., a statement originally phrased with not, don't, nobody, etc.
this strikes me as one of those things that will not be tested again -- it's rather obscure to start with, and, moreover, there has recently been an observable progression of official problems away from such random idioms and toward more systematic issues of grammar and meeting -- so i wouldn't worry about it too much if i were you.