affect, effect

Affect and effect are easily confused. The guidelines below will help you to choose the right word.

Use affect if you mean

• to influence
  • Budgetary constraints have seriously affected our grants and contributions.
• to feign, to simulate
  • Jerome affected a British accent when recounting his travels abroad.
• to move, to touch
  • The Smiths were deeply affected by the loss of their pet cockatoo.
• to pretend
  • Jackie affected to despise science fiction, yet she was avidly reading all of Isaac Asimov’s robot novels.
• to hinder; to hurt
  • How does low literacy affect the health of Canadians?

Use effect if you mean

• to bring about
  • Can you effect those improvements by the end of the first quarter?
  • Jessie became involved in her community and effected many changes.
• to carry out
  • We need the support of all stakeholders before we can effect health care reform.
• an impact
  • The Supreme Court ruling will have a lasting effect on official languages services
• an impression
  • The artist stood back to take in the overall effect of his painting.
• an outcome; a result
  • The committee members hoped the measures would produce a positive effect.

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