Indeed, effect and affect have different meanings, although a quirk of language means that people usually understand the speaker or writer’s intention even when they have mixed them up. While the words are pronounced differently, English speakers will often mix up affect and effect in speech and writing. Effect (e- fekt) stresses the first ‘e’, such as the one in email or easy. Affect ( a-fekt) has a softer ‘a’, like the one in pizza. While the words are often mixed up in speech and writing, it should be noted that the pronunciation is different. There are some instances when effect can be used as a verb and affect as a noun, which will be discussed later. But something can leave an effect upon us, with the noun form telling us that effect is a thing and not an action. We can affect something, which in its verb form tells us that it is we who are doing the affecting. In most cases, affect is used as a verb, meaning to impact, and effect is used as a noun for the result of an impact.
The difference between affect and effect is one of the most common questions in grammar. Don't be one of them! Another trick is to remember that affect comes first alphabetically, and an action ( to affect) has to occur before you can have a result ( an effect).What is the Difference Between Affect and Effect? The difference between affect and effect is so slippery that people have started using "impact" as a verb instead. Most of the time, you'll want affect as a verb meaning to influence something and effect for the something that was influenced. Put another way, a government that can't produce change won't be able to produce surprises it will be predictable. "Did you have a significant effect on the development of some strain of philosophy that profoundly impacted the world?" ( Made You Up)Īdding to the confusion, effect can also be used as a verb to mean "to produce or to cause to come into being." Here's an example that uses it correctly:Ī government unable to effect any change is a government that will produce no surprises. The downed power line had an impact on some power customers: they were without electricity overnight.Įffect is most commonly used as a noun meaning "the result or impact of something, an outcome." If there's "a/an/the" in front of it, it's an effect. It means to influence something, such as in the headline from the Albuquerque News: You can't affect the creepy poem by reading it, but you can enjoy the effect of a talking bird. Think of Edgar Allan Poe and his RAVEN: Remember A ffect Verb E ffect Noun. Choosing between affect and effect can be scary.
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