affect/ effect - please help

[SuperBunny]

I don't know when to use affect or effect.

I use effect more or less all the time unless I am saying, for example, 'his affect was XYZ'

If I want to say, "It does effect me" - is it effect or affect?

[dim]

does this help?!!

I shall feel the effect if I have been affected by that dodgy food.

affect is a verb (doing word)
effect is a noun (a thing)

(I don't mean to sound patronising - lots of people get this mixed up.)

It's a weeny bit more complicated than already said - as both words can be both verbs and nouns, but the senses are (in each case) different. The Oxford link is useful but only deals with the distinction as between them as verbs.

So I think there should be two levels to look at.

1. Common use.

Here, as flimflam says, affect is a verb:

• tax hikes affect my wages
• my roses are affected by the drought
• dh bogging off to the gym without warning affects my mood

and effect is a noun:

• the effect of tax hikes on my wages is horrible
• the effect of the drought on my roses is sad to see
• the effect of my mood on dh serves him right

1. Less common uses

"Effect" can be a verb, but it's a rather formal one (see the Oxford link). "The directors resolved to effect the termination of the contract."

"Affect" can be a noun, but again it's a rarer, and rather technical, use: "having inappropriate affect" means having a psychological difficulty which leads to, eg, laughing at something sad instead of crying.

I would say - don't worry about the less common uses, and any time when you're uncertain, have a test out here and each time it'll get clearer.

so is effected not a word?

Great post Bink.

"The directors effected the termination of the contract yesterday." It's business language really.

In the rarer use of 'affect' it is related to emotions, so don't bother with it, unless you're a psychologist and need to use it in your work.

Stick with Bink's common usage examples and you won't go wrong.

Oh, this is great! Thank you.

So... my poor typing doesn't affect anyone but me? Is that right? But the effect is that people don't want to read what I type?

*** five stars superbunny - well done, that's exactly right.

(And, yes, "effected" can be a word - pompous, though, even for business language. In our scenario, I think the directors are trying to make it look as if the termination of the contract was done by the book. I am dubious.)

I typed 5 stars, I did!

(But you've got 3 stars, in bold. Perhaps, in a Michelin way, that's better.)

Hurrah! Fabulous explanation then, Bink, thank you.

(I'd rather have 3 bold stars than 5 normal ones anyway )