What exactly is the rule for these words? Do we use Affect when there is a physical change and effect when it is not a person? HELP??
2007-06-27 06:31:29 · 4 answers · asked by ? 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
"There are two verbs affect. The first means, among other things, "to make a show of liking; to put on a pretense of" and the second, "to produce an effect in or on, influence." Effect has been used for the second of these since at least 1494 and for the first since 1652. Clearly, we are talking about a long-term confusion here. It happens that effect is a verb, too, with a meaning roughly "to bring about." And, to complete the picture, both affect and effect are nouns. Even though effect is the only one in common use (affect is a technical term in psychology), affect is sometimes put in [the place of effect]....
"Here is a handful of correct usages of the several verbs:
...the luxury of contemporary London, which he affected to find nauseating. - Paul Fussell, Samuel Johnson and the Life of Writing 1971.
....this President has a mandate to effect some serious changes - Andrew Hacker, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 24 oct 1982.
And effect, noun:
...An unimaginative crescendo of stage effects. - Joh Pareles, N. Y. Times 16 Jan. 1984.
All taken from Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage
2007-06-27 06:45:29 · answer #1 · answered by sonofstar 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Affect is a verb meaning to influence.
The fog affected my vision so I could not see the road.
Effect is usually a noun which means result or influence.
Eating oatmeal has a positive effect on our health.
I was trying make him laugh, but my bad joke had to opposite effect.
In some cases, "effect" can also be used as a verb meaning "to produce, to carry out.
The parent's strict rules are meant to effect a change in the child's behavior.
There are too many examples to give sentences for every nuance of the usage, but there are two more variations of "affect" that I will include.
"Affect" can be used as a verb meaning to imitate or simulate.
He affected a British accent to impress the girls.
"Affect" can also be used a a noun meaning emotions (as opposed to reason).
In this case it is accented on the first syllable, and the "A" is prounounced as in cat.
2007-06-27 13:55:52 · answer #2 · answered by True Blue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Effect is a noun. The effect of baby aspirin is thinning the blood.
Affect is a verb. Being in love will affect the way you do your schoolwork.
2007-06-27 13:34:46 · answer #3 · answered by jack of all trades 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
effect is the result of something; affect is a verb
2007-06-27 13:35:01 · answer #4 · answered by chris m 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋