I ran into this problem several times in the last set of student papers, so it’s time for another illustration. When you’re talking about making a change, you mean the verb “affect,” and when you’re talking about something that results from a cause, you mean the noun “effect.” It’s rare to encounter “effect” as a verb (meaning “bring about”) and even rarer to encounter “affect” as a noun (used in psychology to refer to an emotional response).
My old brain is certainly not what it used to be, but I think I remember learning the following in primary school: “The effects affect the effects.” I still use it today.
I was 10 years old when my family immigrated to the U.S., and English was my third language. When I started attending American schools, I could never understand how my classmates could have SO MUCH TROUBLE distinguishing between “affect” and “effect”! 🤔
https://t.co/enLcQVXjge