What are the differences between affect and effect? Some people still confuse the former with the latter. They find it difficult which word to use in a sentence. Should they use affect? Or is effect the proper word to use? Affect, and effect are homophones. They're pronounced the same, yet both have different meanings. While affect is most often used as a verb and effect as a noun, there are cases when affect is used as a noun and effect is used as a verb.
Affect Means "to Act on or Cause a Change."
An example sentence would be: Eating food rich in saturated fats and sugar can affect our health. Affect here means it can cause a change in something. That something would be the eating of unhealthy food. It's not good for our bodies. Eating unhealthy food can adversely affect our health.
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Affect Can Also "Influence the Mind" or Trigger an Emotion
Sample sentence: Their anger affected them both. This is another verb usage for the word "affect". Affect in this sentence triggers an emotion or a feeling. Their anger affected them in ways they have probably never expected. It didn't have a positive effect on them. Effect is a noun and affect is a verb.
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Affect Produces an Effect on Something or Someone
Affect here is still used as a verb. A sample sentence would be: The devastating hurricane affected several families in the area. Or you could also say, "The devastating hurricane had a negative effect on the families in the area. Several other people were also affected by it. Affect still used as a verb and effect as a noun.
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Affect Also Means "to Pretend That a False Behavior or Feeling Is Natural or Genuine."
Sample sentence: She affected concern for her partner. Her concern here could be a false behavior or a genuine feeling. It could mean that she just pretended to look like she's really concerned. Or she really is concerned for her partner. Affect here is still being used as a verb.
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Affect Is a Verb That Implies an Action Has an Effect on Something
Sample sentences: Smoking affects our health. When A has an effect on B, we say A is affecting B. When smoking is affecting health, we say it has a negative effect on our health. The action implied here is smoking, and the effect would be the health issues associated with smoking.
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Effect Means "an Influence"
Sample sentence: She studied her lessons every night, and it had a positive effect on her grades. In this sentence, effect is used as a noun. Because she studies hard, the "result" is a positive effect on all her grades. If you want to use affect in this sentence, you would say: "Her endless nights studying her lessons affected her grades positively."
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It's a Change That Happens When Something Is Done
Sample sentence: Eating unhealthy food has a negative effect on the overall health. In this sentence, the thing that the person did was "eat unhealthy food." The change that happens is the negative effect on the overall health. If you want to switch to using affect, you would say: Eating unhealthy food, or unbalanced diet can affect our health.
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Effect Also Means "to Cause Something to Happen"
An example sentence would be: A good leader has the power to effect change within the team. Although effect is mostly used as a noun, it can also be used as a verb. In this sentence, effect is used as a verb. Being a good leader effected changed within their team.
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An Effect Has the Power to Produce Results
Sample sentence: The child's stubbornness has no effect on his parent. Still being used as a noun, the "action" has the power to produce certain results. In this sentence, however, it didn't affect the parent. Or his stubbornness didn't have any effect on the parent. Notice how we use the word affect and effect in the previous sentences. Affect was used as a verb while effect was still used as a noun.
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Effect Also Means "as a Result"
A sample sentence: Pollution has a bad effect on the environment. Effect here is used as a noun. It's the result of something. In this sentence, the result would be the "bad effect" on the environment. If you want to use affect, you could say, "Pollution badly affected the environment."
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