Affect is a verb meaning to influence or change something; effect is a noun meaning an influence or a result. An easy way to remember it: affect is something a thing does, and an effect is something a thing has. Noise affects sleep; with the noun, the same idea becomes noise has an effect on sleep.
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affect + noun/person; have an effect on + noun; the effect of + noun on + noun
- Lack of sleep affects my concentration more than anything else.
- The new timetable had a positive effect on attendance at evening classes.
- Heavy snow affected flights across the north of the country yesterday.
What changed
First versionSocial media has a big affect on teenagers.
RevisionSocial media has a big effect on teenagers.
After a big you need a noun, and the noun for “influence” is effect. The two words sound almost identical and are both about influence, so they are easy to confuse in writing. The correction changes just one letter: affect becomes effect.
Effect can also be a verb, but with a different meaning: to bring something about or carry it out. To effect change means “to make change happen”, and it belongs to formal writing. The verb effect never means “to influence” in any style, so for that meaning you always need affect: The noise affected my sleep.
Your turn
The bad news didn't seem to ___ him at all: he just carried on working.
Show the answer
affect — After to you need a verb, and the gap is followed by him, the person the news might have had an impact on. Having an impact on someone is affect. As a verb, effect means “to bring something about” and does not take a person as its object.
Describe one habit that has a noticeable impact on your day. Name the habit and say exactly what it affects.
Drinking coffee after four o'clock affects my sleep, so I switched to herbal tea.
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