Affect vs. Effect

Affect vs. effect is something that I have always struggled with. Are the interchangeable? Are the completely different? When will they invent a spellcheck that will check for grammatical errors?

Much like one of my literary heroes, Hermione Granger, my motto is: When in doubt, go to the library. I went to my local library in search of some books about grammar that could help me tackle this lifelong struggle.

I found a book called Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite by Jane Casagrande. Casagrande wrote a short chapter in her book called "How to Impress Brad Pitt: 'Affect' vs 'Effect'". As you can tell by the title of that chapter, her book is more tongue in cheek and funny than a traditional book about grammar rules. One sentence that she wrote in this particular chapter is, "Ninety-nine percent of the time, 'affect' is a verb and 'effect' is a noun." Of course, this is not true every single time, as the English language has many rules with exceptions. However, this is a helpful way to remember whether to use affect or effect in a sentence.

I also found a website that had a couple of helpful sentences and rules for affect vs. effect.

Affect is an action, to impact or influence. "The snow affected the traffic".
Effect is an end result. "I love coffee, the effect is amazing!" (standoutbooks.com).

Reading over these tips certainly simplifies the choice of using effect or affect in a sentence. While I'm sure I won't go through my entire life without doubting myself on this again, it's certainly something helpful that I will store in the back of my mind for a date in the future when I'm struggling internally with whether I should use affect or effect, or choose a different word entirely. (Hah!)



https://www.standoutbooks.com/remember-difference-affect-effect/
Casagrande, June. Grammar Snobs Are Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite. Penguin Books, 2006.