More simply stated, it refers to how a person’s facial expression reveals their feelings.įor example, a person who has just won the lottery will have a positive, joyful affect-with a smile that reaches their eyes.Ī person who is depressed or lonely may have a more unhappy or flat affect, with empty eyes and a downturned mouth. In that form, it refers to the expression or observation of an emotional response. Affect As a NounĪffect can be used as a noun. To use any of these words correctly, we need to understand what each of the forms means and does, and their appropriate contexts. They can also be nouns, and this changes their meaning.īefore we look into the past tense uses of the verb forms, we should take a moment to become affect/effect experts.
Affected and Effected are Past Tense VerbsĪffected and effected are the past tense forms of the verbs affect and effect.īut affect and effect aren’t only verbs.Don't be one of them! Another trick is to remember that affect comes first alphabetically, and an action ( to affect) has to occur before you can have a result ( an effect). The difference between affect and effect is so slippery that people have started using "impact" as a verb instead. Most of the time, you'll want affect as a verb meaning to influence something and effect for the something that was influenced. Put another way, a government that can't produce change won't be able to produce surprises it will be predictable. "Did you have a significant effect on the development of some strain of philosophy that profoundly impacted the world?" ( Made You Up)Īdding to the confusion, effect can also be used as a verb to mean "to produce or to cause to come into being." Here's an example that uses it correctly:Ī government unable to effect any change is a government that will produce no surprises. The downed power line had an impact on some power customers: they were without electricity overnight.Įffect is most commonly used as a noun meaning "the result or impact of something, an outcome." If there's "a/an/the" in front of it, it's an effect. It means to influence something, such as in the headline from the Albuquerque News: You can't affect the creepy poem by reading it, but you can enjoy the effect of a talking bird.
Think of Edgar Allan Poe and his RAVEN: Remember A ffect Verb E ffect Noun. Choosing between affect and effect can be scary.
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