Early position advantage.

**DSchles** · 08-27-2015, 08:49 AM

"The affect is minor"

I'll give you this: you're consistently wrong. So, the question is: can you learn this or not?

Don

**Three** · 08-27-2015, 09:01 AM

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.

**DSchles** · 08-27-2015, 12:41 PM

"I was sketchy on whether effect was a noun when I questioned your usage but now you use affect as a clear noun."

Where is that?

Don

**Three** · 08-27-2015, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by DSchles

The (not so obvious to you) answer is: absolutely no effect whatsoever!

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.

**DSchles** · 08-27-2015, 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

**Three** · 08-27-2015, 12:59 PM

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.