Pet Peeve #30 - Affect and Effect
This is probably one of the most often confusing pair of words I’ve seen/read/used. And why not when they’re so similar in spelling and sound.
When you think affect, think influence.
“Her speech affected my mood.”
When you think effect, think primarily noun. Or ’cause and effect’.
“Her speech had an effect on me.”
Affect is more commonly used as a verb meaning to influence or to have an effect on something. Notice that even in that sentence, ‘effect’ is used as a noun.
Effect as a noun means result or consequence.
Where things might get confusing is when effect is used as a verb. But even then, the meaning is “to bring about”.
“She hoped to effect a change in the way people think.”
Yes, it’s a verb, but it still has a different meaning than affect. If you remember to think affect for influence and ’cause and effect’ it’ll help.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Oh man, I always get confused by those two words. But mostly when “effect” is the verb. Confusing stuff.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Yeah, I think it’s the verb form of effect that messes a lot of people up. I try to avoid using it in that form so I don’t have to deal with the confusion.
July 19th, 2007 at 2:16 am
Hmm, but if you know when to avoid that form, that must mean you know how to use it!
July 19th, 2007 at 6:35 am
Haha. Not quite. I’m just used to not using it, so I tend to naturally avoid it.