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I was writing something here about a girl and I wanted to say something like "she's a normal person, except she's beautiful", like in French "sauf qu'elle est belle"... I'm not quite sure this is correct. Is this phrase grammaticaly correct, and does it make sense at least? If not, what's the correct way of saying this? Cheers!

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  • The actual translation is except that she's beautiful, which is noticeably better.
    – TimLymington
    Aug 25, 2015 at 9:26

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You can say

She's a normal person, except she's beautiful

And it would be grammatically valid. However, it would be better in spoken form than written form because it feels like something is missing. So to improve the phrase just a little bit, I would say

She's a normal person, except that she's beautiful

Or as an alternative

She's a normal person, except for the fact that she's beautiful.

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  • Should we place the comma ? Is it compulsory? what about using "although / though /whereas/..."
    – Cardinal
    Aug 25, 2015 at 10:13
  • I don't think the comma is mandatory, but it certainly helps to break up the two parts of the sentence here. We can't really use any of the other contrast words you suggest, though we could consider "aside from the fact that" or "other than that".
    – JMB
    Aug 25, 2015 at 13:07
  • I think, since there is no contrast, we must use theme; Although we want to express that it is exceptional and not ordinary. Am I right ?
    – Cardinal
    Aug 25, 2015 at 13:10
  • It is more that we are reducing from our original opinion. Consider: she is 100% normal. Oh, but she's beautiful, so I suppose she's 80% normal. That is what "except that" (and the other linking phrases I mentioned) serve as.
    – JMB
    Aug 25, 2015 at 13:12

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