Affect vs. Effect: The Easiest way to get it Right, Every Time
Affect vs Effect — A common mistake in English that you should avoid! If you’re still not sure whether to use affect or effect in your otherwise perfect sentence, you’re not alone. Let’s quickly break down each point with clear examples.
The Most Common Use for Affect: Verb
Example:
- Music affects people in different ways.
- My uncle’s surprise visit affected my plans last weekend.
Affect as a Noun
Example: Daniel always has a brighter affect after his morning cup of coffee.
One trick for telling the difference between the noun version of a word and the verb version is the way that each is pronounced.
The Most Common Use for Effect: Noun
Example:
- The morning news reported that the Senator’s jobs program had a positive effect on the economy.
- Newton’s third law of motion teaches that every action results in an equal and opposite effect.
Effect as a Verb
Example: The newly-founded student club pledged to effect positive change in the world.
What is the Difference Between Affect and Effect?
Affect and effect are one of the most mixed-up pairs in the English language. The confusion is due to two main reasons. First, they can sound similar when you say them. On top of that, both effect and affect can function as nouns or verbs. On one hand, affect is usually a verb and means to change or to influence. On the other hand, effect is usually a noun and means the result of a change. In general, affect covers the relationship between behavior and action while effect covers the relationship between change and results.
How do you Remember Affect and Effect?
Here are three simple tricks for remembering the difference between affect vs. effect.
- First, “A” comes before “E“ in the alphabet. The “A“ stands for the action that affects and comes before the effect.
- Second, if you can replace the word with influence, then you should probably use affect. If you can replace the word with result, you should probably use effect.
- Third, use the RAVEN mnemonic device: remember — affect, verb; effect, noun.