Affect v. Effect

Affect & Effect

Rule 1. Use effect when you mean bring about or brought about, cause or caused.

Example: He effected a commotion in the crowd. Meaning He caused a commotion in the crowd.

Rule 2. Use effect when you mean result.

Example: What effect did that speech have?

Rule 3. Also use effect whenever any of these words precede it:
a an any the take into no

Note: These words may be separated from effect by an adjective.

Example: That book had a long-lasting effect on my thinking.
Has the medicine produced any noticeable effects?

Rule 4. Use the verb affect when you mean to influence rather than to cause.

Example: How do the budget cuts affect your staffing?

Rule 5. Affect is used as a noun to mean emotional expression.

Example: She showed little affect when told she had won the lottery.

Affect & Effect Quiz

The _______ of the antibiotic on her infection was surprising.

I did not know that antibiotics could _______ people so quickly.

Plastic surgery had an ______, not only on her appearance, but on her self-esteem.

If the chemotherapy has no _______ , should she get surgery for the tumor?

When will we know if the chemotherapy has taken _______?

Losing her hair from chemotherapy did not _______ her as much as her friends had expected.

We cannot _______ a new policy without the board of directors voting on it first.

To be an _______ leader, you should know both your strengths as well as your weaknesses.

The movie Winged Migration had two _______ on him: He became an environmental advocate and a bird lover.

The net _______ of blowing the whistle on her boss was that she was eventually given his position.

What was the _______ of his promotion?

His decision _______ everyone here.

We had to _______ a reduction in costs.

The critics greatly _______ his thinking.