Sometimes “effect” is used as a noun that almost seems derived from the word as a verb. But someone could negatively “effect” change by creating bad laws that could hurt people. For example, someone could negatively “affect” change by slowing it (change) down. To “affect” change would be to “influence” change. To “effect” change is to “create” change. NOTE: I have often seen affect/effect misused in this context. It is often used together with the word “change,” as in to “effect change.” When used as a verb, “effect” means to create, to make, to bring into existence. Fortunately, though, it is used in an extremely narrow sense. “Effect” as a verb is much more common than “affect” as a noun. The place I’ve seen it used most is in fiction when, for example, an author describes a character’s emotionless tone of voice by saying it has a “flat affect.” You would rarely use “affect” as a noun in ordinary writing situations, I’m guessing. “Affect” as a noun is a term from psychology, referring to a feeling or emotion as opposed to a rational thought. These are used in pretty limited contexts though. What makes “affect” and “effect” harder to keep straight is is the fact that sometimes “affect” is a noun and “effect” is a verb.
One effect the bad weather had ON people was. In addition, the words “of” and “on” are often associated with “effect.” Also, notice that the “e” word happens second (as a result of the action) but it doesn’t necessarily have to go second in terms of word order within the sentence After that “affecting” occurred, there was an “effect” (which was grumpy people). One effect of the bad weather was grumpy people.
So if you’re writing about a thing that has been caused by something else, then the word you want is “effect.” The “e” word is a result of the “a” word. The “a” word happens first, and the “e” word happens second.
One way to remember this is that “a” comes before “e” in the alphabet, and something has to Affect something else to cause an Effect. When something affects something else, it causes an effect. Affect is the action, and effect is the thing resulting from that action. Usually “affect” is a verb, and “effect” is a noun. In commenting on the dash–hyphen post a couple days ago (and that’s an en dash between the words “dash” and “hyphen” 🙂 ), Kathleen suggested that I write a post about “affect” and “effect.” Great idea! Using “affect” and “effect” correctly can be tricky because each word can be both a verb and a noun.
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