"The affect is minor"
I'll give you this: you're consistently wrong. So, the question is: can you learn this or not?
Don
Apparently not. I was sketchy on whether effect was a noun when I questioned your usage but now you use affect as a clear noun. I thought the distinction was noun or verb form from what MH said. Now all this new info has affected my confidence that I will ever understand the effective use of the terms. I am bound to get one of these right just by random chance.
This was the one I was referring to from post #25.
The implied sentence is: There is absolutely no effect/affect whatsoever. Absolutely is an adverb describing the verb affect. I wasn't sure if effect was a noun or affect was a verb. I could substitute nouns and verbs for effect/affect and the sentence would still make sense.
Last edited by Three; 08-27-2015 at 12:53 PM.
Here's the longer answer, but you really ought to be able to look this up on your own.
Unfortunately, BOTH "effect" and "affect" can be used as BOTH a noun and a verb -- an therein lies some, but not all, of the confusion. Of the four usages, by far the two most common are using "effect" as a noun: "What effect does that have on the outcome?" and "affect" as a verb: "How does that affect the outcome?" If you can just manage to learn these two, you'll be right 99% of the time that you use the two words.
But, there is more. "Effect" can be a verb! It means "to produce as a result" or "to bring about.": "The layoffs were designed to effect savings." "The leader was intent on effecting change."
Finally, although rarely used, "affect" can be a noun! It is a psychological term meaning "a strong feeling or emotion." As such, it is pronounced differently, with the accent on the first syllable and not the second.
Clear?
Don
Thanks Don. That is clear but I bet I will still mess it up. I will try to get it right though. If I am successful at thinking this through when I use these maybe I won't have to think about it after a while. The other option is to just use a synonym instead and avoid the situation altogether.
I did look it up by the way but your explanation was better.
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