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The basic difference is this: affect is usually a verb, and effect is usually a noun. Affect, when used as a verb, means "to act on or change someone or something." Affect also has a sense meaning “to put on a false appearance of (something).”
Affect is usually used as a verb meaning to influence or produce a change in something, whereas effect is generally used as a noun that refers to a change resulting from something.
Effect is most commonly used as a noun meaning “a result or consequence,” as in cause and effect. But effect can also be used as a verb meaning to make happen, most commonly in the phrase effect change. And affect can also be used as a noun referring to a state of emotion, as in He had a sad affect.
Affect and effect are two related words that are commonly confused. They’re pronounced similarly, and in their most common meanings they both refer to change, but they have different grammatical roles: Affect is a verb that describes the act of producing a change in someone or something.
A quick way to remember the difference between affect and effect (without the whole, “noun vs. verb” thing) is to keep the following in mind: AFFECT begins with an “a,” just like action — and affect is typically an action. EFFECT begins with an “e,” just like end result — and effect is an end result.
Do you confuse affect and effect? Affect means to change. It is a verb. Effect means result. It is a noun. In other words, you affect (change) something to create an effect (result). Effect is usually preceded by 'the' or 'an.'
Generally, we use affect as a verb (an action word) and effect as a noun (an object word). What Does Affect Mean? The verb affect means “to act on; produce a change in” as in, “The cold weather affected the crops.” (The cold weather produced a change in the crops.)
Most of the time, you'll want affect as a verb meaning to influence something and effect for the something that was influenced. The difference between affect and effect is so slippery that people have started using "impact" as a verb instead.
effect is typically used as a noun that refers to an outcome. In other words, an action can affect something. The result of that action is an effect. Affect is what’s happening; effect is a result. As we’ve established, affect is often used as a verb, as in the following sentences:
Affect: Definition & examples. Affect is mainly used as a verb, meaning the action of influencing something else or causing it to change. We have affect/affects in the present tense, affecting in continuous tenses, and affected in the past tense. For example: The cancelled flight affected our travel plans.