Her hard work effected big gains for the company’s bottom line.Ĭheck to see if the usage makes sense by substituting “accomplish” or “bring about.”.

The new law will effect change that’s been needed for a long time.

You can use “effect” as a verb meaning “to accomplish” or “to bring about.” It’s often used with the word “change,” though it doesn’t have to be. Happily, these uses are not common, but truly skilled writers and speakers will need to know how to use them correctly. Yes, that’s right: Sometimes “affect” is a noun and “effect” is a verb. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, along come the usual exceptions to the rule. “effect.” Think of the word RAVEN: Remember Affect = Verb, Effect = Noun. Here’s another mnemonic people use to remember “affect” vs. “Effect” and “end result” (which is the definition of “effect”) start with an E.

Tara’s choice has a positive effect on everyone.Īn easy way to remember this trick is that “affect” and “action” both start with an A.

The rainstorm had an effect on the group’s picnic plans.Look for “a,” “an,” or “the” before the word-that indicates a noun. On the other hand, “effect” is most commonly used as a noun. Tara’s choice affects everyone positively.The rainstorm affected the group’s picnic plans.If the word you need is performing the action in the sentence, choose “affect.” When it comes right down to it, you can almost always make the right choice by remembering that “affect” is usually an action word, or verb.

In fact, the definition of “affect” is “to have an effect on something.” How confusing! Fortunately, there are some simple tricks for getting this one right pretty much every time. These two similar-sounding words trip up English speakers all the time.

Affect on you