Affect vs. Effect: What’s the Difference?

It’s important to know the difference between affect vs. effect. One time or another, you may have mistakenly interchanged affect and effect in conversations or in writing. Don’t worry, you’re not alone!

The confusion usually comes from the same sound of the words, which are called homophones: words that sound alike but have different meanings (e.g. right and rite; sick and sic; and tall and toll). We’ll dive into homophones in another discussion. For now, let’s focus on affect and effect.

How to Use: Affect

Affect as a Verb

Affect is most often used as a verb or an action word meaning to influence, to change, or to move something emotionally.  

Here are some sentences using affect as a verb

  • Studies show that excessive use of gadgets harmfully affects child development, particularly speech, social, and cognitive skills. 
  • Our social media habits are affecting our productivity.
  • Her parents’ divorce affected how she deals with relationships today. 
  • Just because illegal mining doesn’t directly affect you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about it. 
  • Listening to music affects our brain dopamine regulation or mood regulators – that’s why playing your favorite song on repeat can be therapeutic.

Related Reading: Verb Tenses – When an Action Occurs

EXCEPTIONS: Affect as a Noun and an Adjective

Noun: Less commonly, Affect can also be used as a noun meaning a manifestation of someone’s feelings– something more complex than a plain mood. It’s actually a Psychology jargon you don’t need to worry about.
If needed, just use other words like emotion, feeling, or expression for a safer choice! Although now that you know its meaning, you can be more confident when you come across it. 

Here are some sentences using affect as a noun:

  • Her job promotion gave her an elated affect.
  • William showed a flat affect when he heard of his best friend’s death. 

Adjective: Affect can also be an adjective but only when an -ed is added, giving us affected, meaning a behavior that is pretentious, insincere, or unnatural. 

Here are some sentences using affect as an adjective:

  • Kierby said she was enjoying the party, but her affected smile gave her away.
  • She loved their movie dates despite his affected interest in film. 

How to Use: Effect

Effect as a Noun

Effect is most commonly used as a noun meaning a change, a consequence, or a result of an action. As a noun, Effect serves as a subject or object of the sentence. 

Here are a few examples using effect as a noun

  • The COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating effect on the global economy left millions of people unemployed. 
  • According to NASA, the long-term effects of climate change such as drought and heat waves, stronger hurricanes, and rising sea levels are expected to worsen in the coming years. 
  • Studio Ghibli films has a timeless emotional effect
  • How can troubled children recover from the effects of bad parenting?
  • The nostalgic effect of Annie Leibovitz’ portraits is one of the reasons I love her.

EXCEPTIONS: Effect as a Verb

When used as a verb, Effect means “to bring about” and is usually coupled with changes or solutions

Here’s an example: Activists who fight for the marginalized sector effect changes in society.

Note: The sentence above means the activists are “bringing about” new changes in society. If you use affect in place of effect, it would mean “to bring about change in the already existing changes in society.” Either word is correct but, in this case, the more compelling option is the one with effect (see what I did there? You’re getting good!).

Easy Tricks to Remember How to Use Affect and Effect:

To avoid confusion and easily choose between the two, let’s resort to mnemonics:

  1. Memorize the first letters of each word: A for Affect and E for Effect and associate them with their use:

A = Affect = Action word or a behavior, while E = Effect = End (an End or a result of a behavior). 

  1. Remember the cause-effect relationship of the two words: 

To affect something means to have an effect on it. Remember that A causes E.

SUMMARY: Affect vs. Effect

In a nutshell, Affect is widely used as a verb meaning to change or influence something. When Affect is used as a noun, it means someone’s obvious emotions. On the other hand, Effect is commonly used as a noun meaning a change, a result, or a consequence of an action. On rare instances, Effect is used as a verb meaning “to bring about” which is almost always followed by “change.” 

There are two effective ways to remember their differences: one is associating their first letters to their use:
A for Affect because it’s an Action word, E for Effect because it’s the End of an action. The other trick is to recall the cause-effect relationship, where an Action (Affect) results in an End (Effect).  In short, A causes E

PRACTICE: Choose between Affect and Effect

Here’s a paragraph showing the different uses of Affect and Effect. Let’s test how this article affected you.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively 1________ our overall well-being. Psychologists say that one way to cope with its stressful 2________ is through digital detox, which means taking time off from consuming any online content. Once you’re off the net, you can divert your attention to learning new hobbies like cooking, gardening, reading, or even working out! These activities will 3________ your daily routine and bring an incredible 4________ in your life. 

Answers:

  1. Affected
  2. Effect/Effects
  3. Affect
  4. Effect

Thank you for reading. We hope it’s effective! Always feel free to revisit this page if you ever have any questions about the difference between affect and effect.

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If you enjoyed learning about the difference between affect and effect, you may be interested in our English Language 2021 AP Exam Study Guide.
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If you enjoyed learning about the difference between affect and effect, you may be interested in our English Literature & Composition 2021 AP Exam Study Guide.
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