Three Parts of an Exception

Al-Mustathnā: Connected and Disconnected Exceptions, Four Case Rules

In «جَاءَ الْقَوْمُ إِلَّا زَيْدًا»:
Mustathnā minhu: al-qawmu, the group under discussion.
Exception particle: illā, marking exclusion.
Mustathnā: Zaydan, the excluded individual.

The verb «جَاءَ» supplies the statement from which the individual is excluded.