Grammar Talk / How to use Affect/Effect Effectively or is it Affectively?

[Redz]

[dang it] Nick now I'm more confused than ever!

Think of it this way.

We as people can effect something. But other things affect us as people.

Is that better?

"How is Frank effecting gas prices?" vs "How are gas prices affecting  Frank?"

[Chief]

Here is a quiz:

1. This morning’s rainfall had very little ______ on the drought.
2. We are hopeful that the heavy rains predicted for next week will ______ the drought.
3. Calcium supplements can positively ______ one’s moods.
4. Calcium supplements can have a positive ______ on one’s moods.
5. The calcium supplements she is taking have ________ed positive changes in her moods.]


answers here (at the bottom of page): http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/012901.htm

[Redz]

Where's Edgar?  Does this happen in Spanish too?

[cdif911]

[dang it] Nick now I'm more confused than ever!

Think of it this way.

We as people can effect something. But other things affect us as people.

Is that better?

Nick is right, but that's such a little used version of effect, I usually tell my kids affect is a verb, effect is a noun (though yes there is an exception as always)

[Redz]

OK, I was actually thinking about this some more this morning on the way into work.  If I have it right the important part is what the subject of the sentence is doing (not necessarily a person). 

1) The sun effected his skin by causing redness.

2) His skin was affected by the sun.

In both cases its the sun that doing the action but in the first example it is the subject, and the second "skin" is the subject.

Anyhow...I think that's right.

What made me think of this just now was this. Did Frontierboy have it right?

the clock malfunction in Detroit against the Magic that no official caught which allowed Detroit to score and it affected the final score.....

By using my example above I think this should have been "effected" since the "clock malfunction" is the subject and it is directly causing the action (not receiving the action passively)

- not picking on you Frontierboy, I'm just trying to get a grip on this whole issue myself

[BrickJames]

OK, I was actually thinking about this some more this morning on the way into work.  If I have it right the important part is what the subject of the sentence is doing (not necessarily a person). 

1) The sun effected his skin by causing redness.

2) His skin was affected by the sun.

In both cases its the sun that doing the action but in the first example it is the subject, and the second "skin" is the subject.

Anyhow...I think that's right.

What made me think of this just now was this. Did Frontierboy have it right?

the clock malfunction in Detroit against the Magic that no official caught which allowed Detroit to score and it affected the final score.....

By using my example above I think this should have been "effected" since the "clock malfunction" is the subject and it is directly causing the action (not receiving the action passively)

- not picking on you Frontierboy, I'm just trying to get a grip on this whole issue myself

The use of the word has nothing to do with the transitivity of the verb or the voice of the sentence.

If you don't know, a simple google search yields plenty of valid commentary.

http://web.ku.edu/~edit/affect.html

Generally speaking, asking for grammar advice on a web forum is probably not the most effective strategy...

[Redz]

Thanks Brick

The explanation on the link you gave me pretty much brings me back to the basic understanding I had before all this

[CoachBo]

Fellas, the affect/effect debate is what it is.

 

[Jeff]

all I know is that I butcher it regularly because I've never taken the time to learn how to use it, ...and that probably won't change anytime soon - sorry

[Reyquila]

Its not "no problemo" Its "no problema"

[Reyquila]

Right Redz on your 3745 post. lolol they are two entirely different words used for entirely different porpoises. lolololololololololol

[Neurotic Guy]

I am a school teacher and keep wondering how they are going to afford fuel for the buses. This Tuesday is an abbreviated day where the kids pickup there report cards on the last day of school. They come from 8-9:30am. What a waste of tax payers money. We already sent the report cards home Friday.

Flat out overjoyed to see this topic.  One question though since I'm still getting the hang of these forums, did I miss the "there" vs. "their" discussion?

I was reading through this thread wondering when someone was going to mention Chief's other mistake; the dreaded "there" instead of "their".  That one drives nuts, almost as much as the frequent misspelling of speech (speach), definitely (definately), and most remarkably lose (loose). Did I mention these mistakes happen alot, er, a lot? 

[Fan from VT]

A little late to the discussion, but i try to think of:

A as in Affect; A as in Action:
Affect is a verb (something affects something else)

Therefor, Effect is actually a noun; it comes attached to an article (the effect, an effect)

I remember this from my science fair days in 6th grade:

"The Effect of Blank on Blank"

and in the actual report:

"...how blank affected blank."

Exceptions:
Of course there are exceptions, just to confuse you.

Affect can be a noun when you are talking about someone's speech pattern, i.e. their peculiar affect

Effect can be a type of verb when you are talking about whether one can effect change.


So you can effect change effectively by being careful about how your use of effect and affect affects others, making sure your positive effect is not lost on your audience due to your peculiar affect.

Yikes.



Their/There

I always remember that there is location because you can either be here or there.

Then I remember that their implies ownership, because it has the word "heir" inside it, and heirs own possessions passed to them. dorky i know, but it's so habitual i can't stop it now.


Two commonly misspelled words that i just memorize:
Desperate
Separate

Sound the same, spelled differently.