Distinguish affect and effect

<span class='text_page_counter'>(1)</span><div class='page_container' data-page=1>

<b>Ask about </b>

<b>English </b>

<b>BBC Learning English – Ask about English </b>

Ask about English © BBC Learning English

Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com

<b>A question from Qais Mohammed: </b>

What is the difference between effect and affect?
<b>Catherine Walter answers: </b>

Hi Qais, You have asked a question that many native speakers of English ask when they
are writing and part of the problem is that these two words, although spelt differently,
are pronounced the same by many people in many contexts. So many people say affect
and effect – for the word that begins with 'a' they say /əfekt/ and for the word that
begins with 'e' they say /əfekt/. I tend to say /əfekt/ and /Ifekt/ - so I tend to pronounce
the one that begins with 'e', / Ifekt/ but not everybody does.

What's the difference? The main use of 'affect' - with an 'a' - is as a verb meaning to
have an influence. So you could say: 'Your emotional state <i>affects</i> how you remember
things'. The word with an 'e' – effect – is usually used as a noun and it means the result
of an influence. So: 'What <i>effect </i>will the new law have on road use?' Part of the problem,
you see, is not only that these two words are spelt very similarly, often pronounced the
same, but their meanings are also very similar – one's a noun, one's a verb. There is a
rarer and more formal use of 'effect' as a verb – that's the one with the 'e' – meaning 'to
make something happen'. So you could say: 'It is pointless to try and <i>effect</i> a chance in
policy now'.

There are also a number of fixed phrases so something that you might hear quite often is
'take effect'. So that's effect – with an 'e' – used as a noun. Here's an example: 'New
privacy regulations will take <i>effect</i> on July 1st.'

Since we're being complete here, I'll give you one last little meaning. You may
sometimes run across the word with an 'a' but it's pronounced differently, meaning a
good or bad feeling towards something, or an attitude towards something. And that's
usually pronounced /æfekt/. So it’s a psychology term. You might hear, or read more
likely: 'The influence of positive <i>effect</i> on social behaviour'. But, that's quite rare and I
hope that differentiating 'affect' – with an 'a' – as a verb, and 'effect' – with an 'e' – as a
noun, will at least set you on the right track. Hope that's helpful.

<b>Audio available online at: </b>

• 8
• 622
• 0