![]() ![]() ![]() Here’s what you’ll find in Merriam-Webster’s definition of “effect,” well below all the part about the noun: “transitive verb. The verb “effect” is not a synonym of “affect.” It has a specific meaning. But it’s an oversimplification - one that can lead to errors - because there’s another “effect” that isn’t a noun. That’s the basic difference, which many people know. See how “affect” is an action and “effect” is a thing? That is, if caffeine affects your job performance, you could also say it has an effect on your job performance. It’s all about the word’s function in the sentence. That medication has some dangerous side effects. What is the effect of Fed policy on interest rates? We’ve seen firsthand the effects of war. “Effect” is similar in meaning, but this is the one you want when the job calls for a noun. ![]() If you’re worried that something could negatively affect your credit rating, if you want to say that alcohol can affect a person’s motor skills, if you worry that lack of sleep could affect your job performance - all those sentences call for “affect,” a verb. The basic difference between “affect” and “effect” - a fact known to everyone who has ever taken an interest in these words - is that “affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun. Unlike the mistakes made by people who just don’t care about language, the error “to affect change” is usually committed by people who’ve made an effort to use “affect” and “effect” right. The phrase “to affect change” is almost always an error - a particularly tragic kind. And indeed this is good news, dampened only by the fact that they don’t know how to spell it. Lots of people and organizations and publications are talking about how to make the world a better place. Here’s an article published in January on LinkedIn and written by Johanne Bouchard: “7 Questions You Must Ask to Affect Positive Change in the Board Room.”Īnd this is from a 2013 piece by Forbes blogger Ron Conway: “It is important that we understand our responsibility to affect positive change in our communities.” Here’s one near the top of the list, a December 2014 story by Monica Middleton on the Guardian website: “Social investment: a powerful tool to affect positive change.” A recent Google search for the phrase “affect positive change” turned up about 101,000 hits. ![]()
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