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AFFECT is normally a verb, and means "to influence or change."

EFFECT is normally a noun, and means the result, consequence, or change that is made.

Examples:

How does population growth affect us? VERB

Studying should positively affect your grades. VERB

What is the effect of population growth? NOUN

Drinking alcohol can have a bad effect on your health. NOUN

If the word is a noun, use "effect." The word affect will almost always be used as an action verb. The word effect can also be a verb, very rarely but obviously used, meaning to cause. (e.g. This law may effect a basic change to our policy.)

The sound of the words provides a good way to remember the most common usage:

If the word follows "the," then emphasize the long "e" sound in the words "the" and "effect," and say "the effect of....". The effect of drinking too much alcohol is often a hangover". Otherwise, use "affect," as in "alcohol affects health." In this case, the "a" in "affects" is pronounced like "uh".

There are some exceptions, for example in psychology a person's "affect," referring to his/her emotional presentation, is a noun. "He has a flat affect." In that case, the "a" is pronounced like the vowel sound in "laugh".

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Q: What is the difference between the words affect and effect?
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Can you Explain affect and effect like you would to a five year old?

The basic difference? The words are very similar and have their roots in the same place and so the difference is tiny. Affect is used to mean to cause a change in something - it can cause an Effect. I affect the ozone when I drive my car. Effect is used to mean the change caused in something - it is what happens to something when it is affected The effect on the ozone is that it is damaged. I affect the ozone, the ozone is affected. The effect I have is that the ozone is damaged, the effect of my actions. Is that okay? And are you actually trying to explain it to a five year old? Because I wouldn't bother, it tends to be one of those words people can use correctly but don't know why they use it when they do or don't. Hope it helped, Acey~Nz I would add that "affect" is almost always used as a verb and "effect" as a noun.


What is the difference between effect and affect?

Affect and effect are two English words with very similar meanings, and very similar pronunciations. Though not actually homophones, the sound of the words is similar enough to cause most people confusion.The word EFFECT is normally a noun meaning a change or result."These changes had a positive effect." "What is the effect of population growth?" "Drinking alcohol can have a bad effect on your health."The word AFFECT is normally a verb meaning to influence or alter."These changes may affect your family." "How does population growth affect us?" "Studying should positively affect your grades."---However, these words can actually be used both as verbs and nouns.As verbs: The word "affect" means to modify something in some way; to have an impact on something. The word "effect" means cause or bring into existence.Examples :Large numbers of sub-prime mortgage can effect a global financial crisis.(they can create one)Alcohol use will affect higher brain functions.(it doesn't cause them; it modifies them)As nouns: an "effect" can be anything that is caused or modified. It is thus correct to talk about "effects of alcohol" as lower brain function. As a noun, affect (pronounced AFFect) means the outward appearance of a person's mental state,


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