- Written By: Brendan McGuigan
- Edited By: O. Wallace
-
Copyright Protected:
2003-2012 Conjecture Corporation
Affect and effect are two English words with very similar meanings, and very similar pronunciations. Though not actually homophones, the sound of the words is similar enough to cause most people confusion. Even some people who use them quite often will find themselves stumped, and have to pause to think about which word is appropriate to use.
The word affect is primarily used as a verb in English. It has two main meanings, which are closely related. Affect may mean to alter the feelings of, or to change the mental state of someone or something. It may also mean, in a broader sense, to change or affect someone or something in any way. So it is that we might say: How will the election affect the course of history? We might also say: The painting affected him so deeply he could not speak.
The word effect, in contrast, is used primarily as a noun in English. It has a number of related meanings, but generally speaking refers to the result of something, the power something might have to get that result, or a phenomenon in the world. An example of the word used to refer to the result of something would be: The election had no effect on the course of history. We might also say: The effect of the painting on him was profound. Phenomena are often also referred to as effects, such as the photoelectric effect or the greenhouse effect.
Affect may rarely be used as a noun, but this usage is esoteric and somewhat archaic. In psychology one may speak of a person's affect, which refers to their mood or mental state. So we might say: The patient exhibited a flat affect, responding to no stimuli. More archaically, the word affect may be used as a noun to refer to an affectation someone might take on — a pose, or disposition. In this context we might say: Her affect was one of learning and grace, but those of us who knew her knew better.
Effect may also be occasionally used as a verb. When it is used in this way, it refers to something having a direct effect, or making it happen. It is usually suffixed by -ed, and takes an object. This use is somewhat more common than the noun uses of affect, but still nowhere near as common as its traditional noun form. An example of this usage would be: The election at last effected the change the people had been hoping for.
Although we have addressed the exceptions to the rule, generally speaking the word affect is used when a verb is called for, and effect is used when a noun is needed. A mnemonic device to help you remember this is that a verb is an action word, and both action and affect begin with the letter a.
An example sentence demonstrating the various uses of these words would be:
Although the painting seemed to affect him very deeply, its true effects would not be known until after the liquor — which had affected his judgment — wore off.
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Discuss this Article
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anon206651
Post 63 |
The document will take affect/effect in January? |
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anon205542
Post 62 |
Is this correct? "She was affected by her husband leaving her because it effected her eating habits."
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anon196896
Post 61 |
anon151179: In your current sentence, the correct answer is "effect". The pill will not have an *effect* on you. However, if you change the sentence around a little, you'd say "This pill will not *affect* my ability to drive home." "Effect" is quite often used as a noun, while "Affect" is quite often used as a verb. Both words can be used as either nouns or verbs, however, which is why it's so confusing. |
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anon165623
Post 59 |
Affect means to -Have an effect on. So if you're not sure on which word to use in a sentence, try filling in the sentence with "Have an effect on". And if the sentence makes sense then the correct word to use is "affect." If not, then the correct word is "effect." Ex. Heavy snows will ___"Have an effect on"___ the first crops this winter. "Have an effect on" fits into this sentence, therefore the correct word to use is affect! Ex. We shall never know the full __"Have an effect on"___ of the drink. In this sentence "Have an effect on" doesn't make any sense, therefore the correct word would be effect! Generally speaking, this will work 99 percent of the time. |
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anon151179
Post 55 |
help! this pill won't have an affect/effect on me? |
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Beammerman
Post 54 |
"The election at last effected the change the people had been hoping for." Just asking, not criticizing! The aforementioned sentence appears in the effect/affect application article. Should this sentence be stated so as to not leave a preposition hanging? Consequently, The election at last effected the change for which the people had been hoping. |
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anon139826
Post 53 |
Remember: To affect something, causes an effect. Simple~ |
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anon136835
Post 51 |
My belief was that affect was used if there was emotion being displayed as in affection or an act of feeling was being described. Effect is simply an effect on something or someone. |
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anon133554
Post 49 |
These two have got to be the most confusing of the entire English language, and yes this helped, but I am still not certain. basically I use effect. |
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anon126017
Post 48 |
Thanks, this was a huge help. I kept getting confused by which word to use where.-futuremrsstyles |
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anon123139
Post 45 |
supposedly the history of these two words are some people spelled it "effect" while others spelled it "affect." Therefore, technically, either word will suffice in either context. It was only later a rule was drawn up to differentiate between the two words, though in all honesty, the meaning is so unclear, students as well as teachers become lost in their meanings. |
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amypollick
Post 44 |
@anon122792: I agree with you. This is just my personal opinion, but I think it's because teachers do not have time to really teach good grammar any longer. So often, they find themselves having to "teach the test" (as in standardized tests) because that is how their students, and by extension, they will be judged. A good English teacher will make sure his/her students have the basics in hand and this means building a good grammar foundation. I'm something of a grammar nut myself, and this routinely drives me bananas. |
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anon122792
Post 43 |
I seem to see this one confused much more now than I ever did in years past. Does anyone know why? |
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anon110364
Post 42 |
The article is excellent, however a few key things should be noted to those who are slightly confused: "To effect" (vb.): "To bring about" "To affect" (vb.): "To influence" (Although there are other meanings) Personally, I find this comes in handy, whenever I need to determine which to use. |
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anon102905
Post 41 |
There's another one! Bowel/bowl - but not a homonym this time. Bowel rhymes with towel and growl and bowl is what you do on a green, or what you put your greens in. |
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anon89751
Post 39 |
Is this correct: "We sing about the things that are effecting us in present and that have affected us in the past.?
Editor's reply: "Affect" is correct in both usages.
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ezbeat
Post 38 |
Unless you are going to be using the archaic version of effect (in which case you are better versed in its usage than I) try replacing 'affect' with 'change' and 'effect' with 'result' and see which fits better. It's not a perfect swap but gives a good indication of which to use. e.g. The election resulted (effected vb.) removal of the labor government. The result (effected n.) of the painting on him was profound. The election changed (affected vb.) the course of history.
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amypollick
Post 37 |
@Anon80485: No one ever said English was required to make *sense." However, the sentence "The sun has an effect on weather" is correct because, in this sense, "effect" is an abstract noun -- a "thing." "The pollen affects my sinuses" is very clear because no other word *but* "affect" could possibly be the verb, and a sentence must have a subject and a verb to be a sentence. In the above, "pollen" is the subject, "affect" the verb. "The" is an article acting as an adjective modifying "pollen." "Sinuses" is the direct object and "my" is technically a possessive pronoun that is acting as an adjective in this case (describing the particular sinuses in question). I don't know if that clears it up, but if you think of "effect" as an abstract, not a concrete noun, it makes it easier, I think. A chair, for instance, is a concrete noun. It has shape and form. "Love" is an abstract noun. It's a thing, but has no definable form. Make sense? |
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anon80485
Post 36 |
Clear as mud! When I use the old standard "A verb is an action word and a noun is a person, place or thing," none of your sentences using the two make much sense! |
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anon77824
Post 33 |
Sometimes it is better to have a rule even if there are exceptions - because if you stick to a simple rule you may get it wrong occasionally - you will get it right most of the time. RAVEN is a useful mnemonic. I also like the explanation that affect refers to influence but effect implies change. The party leaders' debate may affect the outcome of the election. The effect of the election is the party that has won the most seats forms the next government. |
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anon76896
Post 32 |
Ok. How would this one go? This price will go into affect/effect on tuesday.
Editor's reply: "Effect" is correct.
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anon71304
Post 30 |
Try explaining this to an American, mind you there is no "u" to take out so you should be OK! |
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anon70486
Post 29 |
Thank you! |
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anon70485
Post 28 |
This is so useful! Thank you! |
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anon67986
Post 27 |
Who came up with the idea of these two words? I hate the English language. I'm moving to Canada! Oh wait. |
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anon66524
Post 26 |
I have mastered other similar sounding homonyms such as two/to/too, there/their/they're and your/you're but effect/affect remain a mystery to me. Thanks anyway.
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anon60514
Post 24 |
No, this still doesn't work for me. Your first example feels instinctively wrong. The 'how will the election...' Affect looks entirely out of place there like suddenly finding a wombat in your mouth in place of a tooth. If 'The poison took effect' then surely you're 'effected' by it. Affected just almost looks wrong and verb/noun doesn't seem to clear up all the cases. |
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anon57855
Post 23 |
Thanks a lot! finally i understand it. affect describes the reaction of a situation and effect talks about the outcome of a situation. |
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anon57356
Post 22 |
You helped me a lot, they were really confusing words, now cleared. thanks a lot. B.Khan |
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anon56194
Post 21 |
thanks. Now it's clear. |
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anon55597
Post 20 |
Thanks for this. I always had confusion between these two words. |
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anon52788
Post 19 |
The people are affected by flood.
Effects of the flood are destructive. |
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anon51465
Post 18 |
I give my thanks for this article. I too often confused the two. |
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anon48612
Post 16 |
I'm looking for a good source to explain this to some friends. This is pretty good, but the first paragraph uses "affect" in the broader definition of affect -- you can't use the word in its own definition. |
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anon40951
Post 15 |
All those special effects! but I wasn't affected! |
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anon39864
Post 14 |
Thank you so much for this. I was trying to explain the difference to a friend, but couldn't figure out how to put it into words. You helped a ton. |
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englishmajor
Post 13 |
What determines whether to say/write "In behalf of..." or "On behalf of..."? |
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anon33250
Post 11 |
I've read many papers where people use affect instead of effect. It seems to be a very pervasive problem, because I've seen it in academic papers. Consider for example: "It is not clear what the affect of using certain drugs is."
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anon26404
Post 9 |
you should use "affected by the change" |
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anon23106
Post 7 |
I am having trouble deciphering the riddle of Affect/Effect in this context: "I will send e-mail to all the users affected/effected by the change to their accounts." |
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anon21232
Post 6 |
I like tacos with chicken, however, it has an effect on my bowl movements. Thank you. |
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anon14735
Post 4 |
To be fair, affect/effect is easier to get wrong than it's/its.
Editor's reply: check out our article, what's the difference between its and it's? for more information!
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olittlewood
Post 3 |
thanks for this info...i find that a lot of people mix affect and effect up! also, it's and its. that drives me crazy!!! and they're and their. i could go on and on! |
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anon5141
Post 2 |
Your high school teacher did you no favours as Effect is also a verb - meaning to bring about or cause to happen! |
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anon2743
Post 1 |
My high school english teacher gave us this to remember it by (RAVEN)
Remember Affect is a Verb Effect is a Noun |
