Tip 690: "Affect" and "Effect." Again.

From the Writing Workshops: “Affect” and “Effect.” Again. 

We’re pretty sure this is a losing battle, but we’ve got to try anyway. 

The headline: “The Hearings Have Been Impactful for Their Audience.” 

Hmm. 

“Impactful.” 

Impactful. Impact. Impacted. 

Wrong. 

“Impact” used to mean—and still means—“to hit”: “The comet impacted the Jovian surface at 10:23:55 GMT.” 

Or “The comet hit the Jovian surface at 10:23:55 GMT.” Hit. Kapow! Bam! Sock!

But so many writers are confused with “affect” and “effect” that they use “impact” (or some variation) instead.

An Immediate but Incomplete Answer

There’s bad news and good news about “affect” and “effect.”

The bad news is that each word has two definitions. (No wonder it’s confusing.) 

The good news is that the second definition of each word is so specialized, so narrow, we can (almost) ignore it. 

Let’s talk about the first definition for each word. 

Affect

“Affect” is a verb. An action word. It means “to influence, change, or act upon.” 

How might you best remember it? Think of the “a” in “affect” as standing for action. 

For example— 

The hearings affected (influenced, touched, acted upon) their audience. 

The pay raise affected (influenced, touched, acted upon) every employee. They all bought Ferraris.

Effect

“Effect” is a noun. A thing. It means “result, consequence, or outcome.” 

How might you best remember it? Think of “The effect.” The ending “e” in “the” links to the beginning “e” in “effect.” 

For example— 

The effect (result, consequence, outcome) of the hearings was a greater interest in current affairs.

The effect (result, consequence, outcome) of the pay raise was unprecedented. Everyone bought Ferraris.

How’s that? 

Next week, we’ll continue our discussion and explore the second, specialized, narrow definitions. Hey. We love this stuff.