There is often confusion over the words ‘effect’ and ‘affect’.
In order to understand which to use, you must know the difference between a noun and a verb.
This is because effect is a noun; whereas, affect is a verb.
However, there are tricks to get around this.
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Affect is almost always used as a verb. When used as a verb, its meaning is "to influence" something. Therefore, you would always use "affect" when trying to say that someone or something had an influence. For example, "The damp and rainy day affected Harry’s mood." Very rarely, affect can be used as a noun. Psychologists are usually the only people to use affect as a noun to describe someone’s mood or emotional state.
Effect is almost always used as a noun. When used as a noun, its meaning is "a result". Therefore, you would always use the word effect when trying to say that a change occurred as a result of something else. For example, "The rain had no effect on Harry’s mood." Very rarely, effect can be used as a verb. In this instance, "to effect" means, "to bring about something, cause it to occur or to accomplish a task".
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A LITTLE TRICK TO SPOT ‘EFFECT’
The word effect has several meanings. It can mean outcome, consequence or appearance. Try using one of these instead of effect. If the sentence still makes sense, then effect is almost certainly correct.
(This trick works because effect is a noun, just like the words outcome, consequence and appearance. )
A LITTLE TRICK TO SPOT ‘AFFECT’
Try using the verb ‘to transform’ (in its various forms; e.g., transforming, transformed, transforms) instead of affect. If the sentence still makes sense, then affect is almost certainly correct. However, if you find yourself using transformation then you should be using effect, because both are nouns.
(This trick works because ‘to transform’ is a verb, just like ‘to affect’. )
NO CONFUSION
There should be no confusion with ‘affecting’ or ‘affected’. These are always verbs.
BE AWARE
There is a verb ‘to effect’. It is quite rare, but useful in business writing. It means ‘to bring into being’.
Example : The new policy will be effected as soon as the paper is signed.
that’s awesome really
I used to use both of them anyway but now i knew the
right purpose of each one
thanks for the hint and useful information
keep up the good hints
and i hope the topics i put are all useful 🙂
🙂 Thanx for your sweet comment ..
Forward Ndoowo
Thanx for ur comment and i appreciate your pass in my topics :):)
Thanxx
