Difference between affect and effect..

So I know one is a noun and the other a verb, but I still don't understand which one to use. Can anyone explain the rules in simple words. Thanks

Reply 1

username1801813

Original post by WutJob..

So I know one is a noun and the other a verb, but I still don't understand which one to use. Can anyone explain the rules in simple words. Thanks

'sup WutJob, hows it going?

idk I think the easiest way to explain it is putting it in a sentence;

you use 'affect' when something has 'affected' you.
e.g - Ricegum was really affected by Behzinga's totally fire diss track
(this one's the verb)

you use effect when there's been an effect.
e.g - one effect of global warming is that polar bears are projected to develop a 70% increase tourettes if we don't stop burning fossil fuels over the coming decade.
(this one's the noun)

unless I've totally goofed and in that case I'm sure someone will educate us both.

Reply 2

Blue_Cow

Original post by hamzakalinle

Sounds right to me!

Reply 3

S.G.

Original post by hamzakalinle

This.

An effect is basically the effect of something and an affect is the impact on someone or something

Reply 4

teenhorrorstory

Think 'special effects'
Effects is noun. Special affects doesn't sound right

Reply 5

username1801813

Original post by Blue_Cow

Sounds right to me!

Original post by SGHD26716

This.

An effect is basically the effect of something and an affect is the impact on someone or something

sweet been a minute since I did GCSE english I was hoping I wouldn't make myself look a moron.
and prsom to the both of ya' unfortunately

Reply 6

S.G.

Original post by hamzakalinle

sweet been a minute since I did GCSE english I was hoping I wouldn't make myself look a moron.
and prsom to the both of ya' unfortunately

Yeah same to you.

Reply 7

Blue_Cow

Original post by hamzakalinle

sweet been a minute since I did GCSE english I was hoping I wouldn't make myself look a moron.
and prsom to the both of ya' unfortunately

PRSOM too!

I did IGCSE English Language in 2015 so it's been a while for me :tongue:

Reply 8

Purdy7

As far as I can remember it might be as follows:

Affect comes before - as in affection. For example; how will it affect the stability of the her emotions?

Effect comes afterwards - the effect of the earthquake was devastating to Japan.

Reply 9

Compost

Original post by SGHD26716

An effect is basically the effect of something and an affect is the impact on someone or something

There is no such thing as 'an affect' - affect is a verb not a noun.

You are affected by an effect.

Reply 10

S.G.

Original post by Compost

There is no such thing as 'an affect' - affect is a verb not a noun.

You are affected by an effect.

Hence I didn't do English after GCSE

Spoiler

Reply 11

Tubbz

You can have an effect

You can affect something

Reply 12

Compost

Original post by SGHD26716

Hence I didn't do English after GCSE

I read engineering. I've never seen much of a correlation between good grammar/spelling and people who study English. The real specialists (pedants?) are the modern linguists.

Reply 13

StealingThunder

Original post by Compost

There is no such thing as 'an affect' - affect is a verb not a noun.

You are affected by an effect.

There is such thing as an affect, but it's usually in a medical context. "She had flat affect"
However in everyday use, effect is the noun and affect is the verb.
Apparently you can also use effect as a verb rarely, to mean implement.
Here's a source that explains pretty clearly:
http://web.ku.edu/~edit/affect.html

Reply 14

S.G.

Original post by Compost

I read engineering. I've never seen much of a correlation between good grammar/spelling and people who study English. The real specialists (pedants?) are the modern linguists.

My grammar is fine. I just can't explain it.

Reply 15

Zeux

The way I remember which one I have to use is think if I can replace the word with influence, and if I can't, then it's effect.
For example:
Her latest performance affected the results.
Her latest performance influenced the results.

or

I'm going to use some special effects to enhance my performance.
I'm going to use some special influence to enhance my performance.

See, it just doesn't work! Hope this helped. :smile:

Reply 16

WutJob..

Thank you all.

My GCSE English teachers weren't reliable. Never had a long-term English teacher for more than 8 months, they kept leaving in between the academic years. They also used to be recently graduated teachers, because my school's reputation was unattractive.