Affect or affect ( a verb--an action word ) means to produce a change in--
Will the new rules affect our benefits?
Will this medicine affect my vision?
Affect may also mean to produce feelings or emotions in--
Sad movies always affect me this way.
The TV news can affect people in many ways.
Effect or effect ( a noun--a thing or idea) means a result or consequence--
The only effect of the new regulations was more paperwork.
All the lecturing had no effect on him whatsoever.
Effect may mean the main idea or impression--
I don't like the effect that produces.
I'm not sure the effect is what we wanted.
Now that you know that, you can say--
"The effect of the sad movie was to affect everyone for days."
"This affected me. That had an effect on me."
Note--Affect or affect is a psychological term for emotion--
He was diagnosed with an affective disorder--what they used to call an emotionally disturbed
Note # 2--"effective" means useful for the purpose, or likely to produce a desired result--
This medicine has often been found effective for conditions like yours.
Note # 3--"affected" means to speak or interact socially in a very artificial manner, as in copying speech directly from a movie or novel--
I don't like that woman; she's so affected.
He affects an air of the lord of the manor with his ascot and monocle.
The pose put on in this manner is called an affectation--
That accent is an affectation. She was born in Brooklyn.
Not to be confused with affection, meaning an emotion of fondness or attachment--
Our dog wags his tail in a show of affection.
Words that sound the same when we speak may actually be two different words--which matters when we write them down. Spellcheck cannot help with this--it will show each word and the writer has to choose--to disambiguate them, if you will. I intend to update this daily, with another set of words it is possible to confuse, beginning with the simplest and most important. Questions and comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label affection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affection. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)