Affect and effect are the single most confused word pair in English, mostly because they sound almost identical. The short version: affect is almost always a verb, effect is almost always a noun.
To affect something is to change it or influence it in some way.
affect full definition →
An effect is the result of something, the change that was caused.
effect full definition →
| affect | effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | Verb (almost always) | Noun (almost always) |
| What it does | Causes a change | Is the result of a change |
| Simple test | "It affected me" means it changed me | "It had an effect on me" means it caused a change in me |
Affect is the action, effect is the result. If you can put "the" or "an" in front of it, you probably want effect.
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