Dave Stinson

English vocabulary – Affect VS. Effect

I made an infographic explaining the difference between affect and effect. I tweeted this on my Twitter account but I thought it would be a good blog post and I could give you some more examples. Here it is!

Affect is a verb

= to produce a change in somebody/something 
Definition from: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries

● How will the new rules affect you?

● My relationship with her did not affect my decision.

● Countries like Australia will be the worst affected by the global warming.

Effect is a noun

= a change that somebody/something causes in somebody/something else; a result
Definition from: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
● The president’s new policy will have long-term effects.

● You can’t have a cause without an effect.

● My friend really believes in the beneficial effects of a low carb diet.

In a basic English sentence, we write subject verb object.

Global warming affects the whole world.
(In this sentence global warming is the subject, affect is the verb and the whole world is the object.)

We will all feel the effects of global warming. 
(In this sentence we is the subject, feel is a verb and the effects of global warming is the object.) 

Some more tips for using affect and effect.

Remember that the noun “effect” often will follow an article (“an effect,” “the effect”) or an adjective (“negative effect,” “positive effect”).  
“Rising oil prices will have an effect on nearly everyone.”
Affect is most commonly used as a verb so it can be used in the past (affected), future (will affect) or continuous (BE affecting) form. [Effect is most commonly used as a noun so these forms are not used.]
“This new software is affecting the performance of my laptop.”
“A few people lost their jobs in the bad economy, but luckily my company was not affected.”

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