The verb effect means, according to Merriam-Webster, “to cause to come into being,” “to accomplish,” or “to put into operation.” Though these definitions do admittedly sound similar to affect as a verb, they’re not exactly the same. For example: Based on her affect when I told her I’d gotten the job, I knew she was excited for me. If you’re describing someone’s emotional reaction conveyed through facial expression, tone of voice, body language, and/or other visible indicators, the word you want is affect (pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable). For example: The strike had a positive effect on my bowling score.Īll that said, there are certain situations in which affect can be used as a noun and effect functions as a verb. If the word is preceded by an article- a, an, or the-or any other adjective, it should probably be effect. The t in effect, on the other hand, can stand for the. For example: The strike affected my bowling score even more than I had expected. If you’re describing an action, you should probably choose affect. Think of the a in affect as standing for action. Claudine James, a middle school English teacher known as on TikTok, has a handy mnemonic device to help you remember this. In short, affect is most commonly used as a verb, and effect is frequently a noun. Their definitions are related, too.Īccording to Merriam-Webster, affect means “to produce an effect upon.” Effect is, well, that effect (or, in clearer terms, “a change that results when something is done or happens”). One of the most notorious examples is affect and effect-and not just because their spellings only differ by a single letter. The English language is populated with so many confusingly similar word pairs that even professional writers slip up sometimes.
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