The word “effect” means “the result of an influence,” and the pollution in the city had a negative impact on me. Is this a negative effect on someone or does it have an impact on them?Īffect is a verb that means “to influence or cause someone or something to change” new technologies continue to have an impact on how we live. The noun is ‘effect,’ which means’result’ (which has made him proud) or ‘influence (which has had such an impact on me). However, most of the time, you can disregard these meanings and stick with the ‘effect is a noun and affect is a verb’ rule.The verb ‘affect’ means to influence (his methods had a significant impact on me), but it also means to feign (he had a significant impact on nonchalance).

‘The rise in oil price will affect transport costs.’Ĭareful readers may have noted that we said this was ‘almost always’ true – and ain’t that always the case with English? There are indeed exceptions to the rule.Įffect can also be a verb, meaning ‘to cause to occur, to bring about, to accomplish’.Īffect can also mean ‘to put on the appearance of’, as in ‘he affected anger’.Īnd, even more obscurely, in psychiatry, affect can also be used as a noun, as in ‘she exhibited a flat affect’. ‘One of the effects of the rise in oil price will be to increase transport costs.’ ‘The rise in oil price will have an effect on transport costs.’ So here’s how to get affect and effect straight.Įffect is a noun and means ‘a result or a consequence’ or the way one thing acts upon anotherĪffect is a verb and means ‘to have an effect on’ If you mix up your words, it can affect a reader’s opinion of you – and that, in turn, can have a detrimental effect on your business.

Have that effect or affect on me