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english grammer
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Is there an easy way to distinquish between where to use the word "affect" and the word "effect"? I can tell between "advise" and "advice" ( - the solicitor advises his client - so advise is the verb and advice must be the noun) but I've no idea about these two words.....
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a simple answer is;
if you are unsure which to use, determine what sort of word you require - verb or noun.
affect is the verb, effect is the noun.
An effect is the result of something being affected.
The verb to effect means to cause or bring about. You are much less likely to encounter or use this.
if you are unsure which to use, determine what sort of word you require - verb or noun.
affect is the verb, effect is the noun.
An effect is the result of something being affected.
The verb to effect means to cause or bring about. You are much less likely to encounter or use this.
For a start, both words may be either nouns or verbs, so let us look at the noun meanings first and then the verbal ones...
1 NOUNS
a. The noun, �effect', is basically the result of an action, as in �Drowsiness is one effect of taking this drug' or �What effect on my career will it have if I fail this test?'
b. It can also mean goods or property, as in �After his death, his effects were sent to his son in America.'
c.Thirdly, it can mean special tricks and illusions as used in films and television, as in �The special effects in Star Wars were quite stunning!' (Neither of the two additional meanings at �b' or �c' is likely to be confused with �affect'.)
d. The noun, �affect', is normally used only in psychological jargon to mean the emotion lying behind actions as in �The dream process is an affect mechanism.' (As such, you can more or less forget the noun, �affect'...unless you are a psychologist, of course!)
2 VERBS
a. The verb, �effect', means to produce, accomplish or bring about, as in �By her ceaseless campaigning, she eventually managed to effect her husband's release from prison.' So, Effect has to do with the End result. Notice the two capital letters �E'.
b. The verb, �affect', means to act upon or influence, as in �The illness affected him in a variety of ways.' So, Affect relates to Act upon. Notice the two capital letters �A'.
c. It can also mean to make a pretence of, as in �He affected a Scottish accent in order to befriend her.' (This additional meaning is unlikely to be confused with �effect'.)
Confusion is likely to arise, therefore, only with regard to Paragraphs 2a and 2b...ie when the words are used as verbs. To avoid problems, remember the matching capital letters.
1 NOUNS
a. The noun, �effect', is basically the result of an action, as in �Drowsiness is one effect of taking this drug' or �What effect on my career will it have if I fail this test?'
b. It can also mean goods or property, as in �After his death, his effects were sent to his son in America.'
c.Thirdly, it can mean special tricks and illusions as used in films and television, as in �The special effects in Star Wars were quite stunning!' (Neither of the two additional meanings at �b' or �c' is likely to be confused with �affect'.)
d. The noun, �affect', is normally used only in psychological jargon to mean the emotion lying behind actions as in �The dream process is an affect mechanism.' (As such, you can more or less forget the noun, �affect'...unless you are a psychologist, of course!)
2 VERBS
a. The verb, �effect', means to produce, accomplish or bring about, as in �By her ceaseless campaigning, she eventually managed to effect her husband's release from prison.' So, Effect has to do with the End result. Notice the two capital letters �E'.
b. The verb, �affect', means to act upon or influence, as in �The illness affected him in a variety of ways.' So, Affect relates to Act upon. Notice the two capital letters �A'.
c. It can also mean to make a pretence of, as in �He affected a Scottish accent in order to befriend her.' (This additional meaning is unlikely to be confused with �effect'.)
Confusion is likely to arise, therefore, only with regard to Paragraphs 2a and 2b...ie when the words are used as verbs. To avoid problems, remember the matching capital letters.
The reason you need to know the difference between 'advise' and 'advice' is so that you can distinguish (in UK spelling) between 'practise' and 'practice', 'license' and 'licence', and possibly a handful of similar words. Unfortunately, I have seen 'advise' used several times when the word should have been 'advice'. It is just amazing to me. I have also seen apparently educated people confuse 'except' and 'accept', and more recently 'threw' spelled 'through'. By the way, has anybody else noticed the title of dondon's question, but you were too polite to mention it?
Although I couldn't think of anything else that no-knowledge might have been referring to when he wrote "are your ears burning dondons?", the reference was so obscure that I thought I might be missing something. When we talk of our ears burning, we usually mean that we are embarrassed because people are talking about us - which may well be the case in dondons' instance. If no-knowledge had written, "Is your face red, dondons?" I think I would have understood straightaway.
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