Affect vs Effect

Among the pairs of words writers often confuse, affect and effectmight be the most perplexing, perhaps because their meanings are so similar. Affect, derived from affectus, from the Latin word afficere, to do something to, act on, is easily conflated with effect, borrowed from Anglo-French, ultimately stemming from the Latin wordeffectus, from efficere, to bring about. Affect The various senses of affect, each followed by a sentence demonstrating them, follow: A noun meaning mental state: In his report, the psychiatrist, noting his lack of expression or other signs of emotion, described his affect as flat. A verb meaning to produce an effect, to influence: I knew that my opinion would affect her choice, so I deliberately withheld it. A verb meaning to pretend or to put on: She tried to affect an air of nonchalance, though she was visibly agitated. Words with affect as the root, followed by their use in a sentence, include the following: Affectation: A noun meaning self-conscious behavior: The girls affectation of sophisticated maturity was undercut by the relentless snapping of her chewing gum. Affection: A noun meaning kind or loving emotion: Her grandfathers deep affection for her was obvious in his heartwarming smile. Disaffected: An adjective meaning discontented, rebellious: Disaffected youth dismayed by the poor job market and the larger issue of a society that does not seem to value them have been joining the protest movement in ever greater numbers. (This word is a case of an antonym that has outlived the original term from which it was derived in counterpoint; writers and speakers no longer express, in the sense of favorably disposed, that a person is affected.) Unaffected: An adjective with two distinct senses: the literal meaning of not influenced or altered (They seemed disturbingly unaffected by the tragic news) and the surprisingly older, figurative meaning genuine (The youths candid, unaffected demeanor appealed to her after the stilted arrogance of her many suitors). Effect The various senses of effect, each followed by a sentence demonstrating them, follow: A noun meaning the result of a cause: The effect of the lopsided vote was a loss of confidence in the chairman. A noun meaning an impression: The soft, gentle tone has a calming effect. A noun, usually in plural form, meaning personal property, possession: Among the effects found in the deceased mans pockets was a small book with his name self-inscribed. A verb meaning to accomplish: His newfound sense of responsibility effected a positive change in her attitude toward him. Words with effect as the root, followed by their use in a sentence, include the following: Aftereffect: A noun, usually in plural form, meaning something that follows a cause: The aftereffects of the decision are still being felt years later.

Effective: An adjective meaning successful: The insect repellent was effective at keeping the mosquitoes at bay, which made for a pleasant outing. Effectual: An adjective meaning able to produce a desired effect: Our conclusion is that mediation is an effectual strategy for obtaining a mutually satisfying outcome. The noun efficiency and the adjective efficient, though not based on the rooteffect, share its etymological origin and mean, respectively, productivity and productive in the sense of accomplishing something with a minimum of effort in relation to outcome. Efficacy (the power to produce a desired effect) andefficacious (able to produce a desired effect) are also related. Another, unexpected word of related origin is feckless (weak, worthless), which is rare and has lost its antonym, feckful, through long disuse. Feck is a shortened form of effect developed in Scottish English. Affect Versus Effect

When to use affect and effect is one of the most common questions I get. This is an expanded show based on the original episode covering when to use affect with an a and when to use effect with an e. I get asked whether to use affect or effect all the time, and it is by far the most requested grammar topic, so I have a few mnemonics and a cartoon to help you remember. What Is the Difference Between Affect and Effect? Before we get to the memory trick though, I want to explain the difference between the two words: The majority of the time you use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun. When Should You Use Affect? Affect with an a means "to influence," as in, "The arrows affected Aardvark," or "The rain affected Amy's hairdo." Affect can also mean, roughly, "to act in a way that you don't feel," as in, "She affected an air of superiority." When Should You Use Effect? Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning "a result" seems to be at the core of all the definitions. For example, you can say, "The effect was eye-popping," or "The sound effects were amazing," or "The rain had no effect on Amy's hairdo." Common Uses of Affect and Effect Most of the time,affect is a verb andeffect is a noun. There are rare instances where the roles are switched, and I'll get to those later, but for now let's focus on the common meanings. This is "Quick and Dirty" grammar, and my impression from your questions is that most people have trouble remembering the basic rules of when to use these words, so if you stick with those, you'll be right 95% of the time. So, most of the time, affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun; and now we can get to the mnemonics. First, the mnemonic involves a very easy noun to help you remember: aardvark. Yes, if you can remember aardvarka very easy nounyou'll always remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. Why? Because the first letters of "a very easy noun" are the same first letters as "affect verb effect noun!" That's a very easy noun. Affect (with an a) verb effect (with an e) noun.

"But why Aardvark?" you ask. Because there's also an example to help you remember. It's "The arrows affected Aardvark. The effect was eye-popping." It should be easy to remember that affect with an a goes with the a-words, arrow and aardvark, and that effect with an e goes with the e-word, eyepopping. If you can visualize the sentences, "The arrows affected the aardvark. The effect was eyepopping," it's pretty easy to see that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. The illustration of the example is from my new book. It's Aardvark being affected by arrows, and I think looking at it will help you remember the example sentences; and it's cute. You can print it out and hang it by your desk. So a very easy noun will help you remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun, and the example will help you see how to use both words in a sentence Rare Uses of Affect and Effect So what about those rare meanings that don't follow the rules I just gave you? Well, affect can be used as a noun when you're talking about psychology--it means the mood that someone appears to have. For example, "She displayed a happy affect." Psychologists find it useful because they know that you can never really understand what someone else is feeling. You can only know how they appear to be feeling. And, effect can be used as a verb that essentially means "to bring about," or "to accomplish." For example, you could say, "Aardvark hoped to effect change within the burrow."