Tag Archives: language

Effect vs Affect

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Well, here it is. The post that answers the big question. That’s right, when should you use effect and when should you use affect. I have turned to the fantastic Grammar Girl for a full and detailed response.

Grammar Girl here.

Today’s topic is when to use affect with an a and when to use effect with an e.

This question is from Eric on the voicemail line.

“I have a question for you regarding the “affect or effect” conundrum. Please shed some light on this for me. I’ve read style guides but I can never remember, so I’m looking for some kind of mnemonic or something that might help.”

This has been by far the most requested grammar topic. In addition to Eric, at least seven people have asked by e-mail, so I have a mnemonic and a matching cartoon to help you remember.

Before we get to the mnemonic though, I want to explain the difference between the two words.

It’s actually pretty straightforward. The majority of the time you use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun.

Affect with an a means “to influence,” as in, “The arrows affected the aardvark,” or “The rain affected Amy’s hairdo.” Affect can also mean, roughly, “to act in a way that you don’t feel,” as in, “She affected an air of superiority.”

Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning “a result” seems to be at the core of all the definitions. For example, you can say, “The effect was eye-popping,” or “The sound effects were amazing,” or “The rain had no effect on Amy’s hairdo,” or “The trick-or-treaters hid behind the bushes for effect.”

So most of the time affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. There are rare instances where the roles are switched, but this is “Quick and Dirty” grammar, not comprehensive grammar, and I don’t want to confuse you. My impression from your questions is that most people have trouble remembering just the basic rules of when to use these words, so we’re going to stick with those, and you’ll be right 95% of the time.

So, for our purposes, affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun; and now we can get to the mnemonics. First, the mnemonic involves a very easy noun to help you remember: aardvark. Yes, if you can remember aardvark — a very easy noun — you’ll always remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. Why? Because the first letters of “a very easy noun” are the same first letters as “affect verb effect noun!” That’s a very easy noun. Affect (with an a) verb effect (with an e) noun.

Go to Grammar Girl to read the rest.

Figures of Speech

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We are revising Unfamiliar Texts at the moment and I know some of you have a few queries about terms that you are not sure of. Today I will remind you about figures of speech. I will give you some brief definitions of terms and an example.

Antithesis: balanced contrast for special effect.

e.g. (Alexander Pope describing humans)

“Created half to rise, and half to fall;

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all…”

Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration for dramatic effect.

e.g. (Lady Macbeth, full of remorse for Duncan’s murder)

“Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”

Metaphor: a comparison, without ‘like’ or ‘as’, in which one thing is said to be another.

e.g. (Shakespeare’s description of death)

“That undiscover’d country from whose bourne

No traveller returns…”

Oxymoron: a contradiction in two words, again to catch the reader’s attention.

e.g. (from ‘Romeo and Juliet’)

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Personification: giving human qualities to non-human things.

e.g. (Shakespeare’s image of dawn)

“But look, the dawn, in russet mantle clad.

Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastern hill.”

Simile: a comparison beginning with ‘like’ or ‘as’.

e.g.(picture of an overweight woman laughing)

“… all the woman heaves

As a great elm with all its mound of leaves

Wallows before the storm…”