Hello, I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
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This lesson today is one that I wanted to make for you
and that I needed to make for me!
And many of the other native English speakers
out there, who mess up these words!
The difference between the word 'effect' and 'affect'.
They sound almost exactly the same
when they're spoken naturally.
Effect and affect.
In both words, the stress is on the second syllable
so the unstressed syllable at the start of each word,
it sounds pretty similar,
even though they're different vowel letters.
So it's not easy to hear the difference between them
when you're listening.
If I say affect and effect, you can hear the difference.
But that's not how these words are spoken naturally.
And the meaning of these words is also very similar.
They both talk about something changing another thing
but they are different types of words.
Effect is usually a noun
and affect is usually a verb.
Now I say usually because there are times
when affect is a noun and effect is a verb
but most of the time, you'll see effect as a noun
and affect as a verb.
See how confusing these two little words are for us?
I say us because these two words
even confuse me sometimes.
I make this mistake too
and many native English speakers make this mistake.
Many, many of them and much, much more often
than you think!
And much more often than they think, as well!
So this video is important for all of us.
I can tell you with a decent amount of confidence
that at least half of the native English speakers
that I know sometimes make this mistake
by accident
but it's really, really common in emails.
So let's go over all of this together now,
starting with effect,
the verb.
The verb affect means to change something,
to influence something or to impact on something.
So try to remember that the a in affect stands for action
so it needs to be a verb.
Long flights can affect your blood circulation.
The weather affected the outcome of the football match
Her illness will affect her examination results.
So in all of these examples, affect is a verb.
Affect is a synonym of change and influence.
So one thing is changing or influencing another thing.
My savings - so that's the money that I save -
my savings affect where I travel.
When I have a lot of savings,
I go abroad for my holidays.
When I don't have a lot of savings,
I go on short trips near my home,
often to visit friends.
The amount of money that I have saved
influences where I go for my holidays.
Okay now effect, the noun.
So this is the experience of the action,
the result of the change.
Warm weather
always has a positive effect on my mood
The community felt the effects of the financial crisis.
Have you noticed any effects
since you changed your diet?
In all of these examples, effect is a noun
and you can see that it's a noun from the structure
in these sentences.
Effect is a synonym of result or consequence.
If something affects you,
you will feel the effect of the change.
Okay, compare these two sentences.
The storm affected the local community.
The action happened to the community.
The community saw the effects of the tropical storm.
The community saw the result of the storm.
But as usual, the English language would not make it
so simple for you, would it?
Be aware that effect is also sometimes used as a verb
particularly in fixed expressions such as
to effect change.
So in this expression, effect is actually a verb
and it means to produce something
or to cause something.
The government needs to affect change or else
the community will lose confidence in them to lead.
Now it's unusual or less common for effect to be a verb
but it's possible, it does happen,
particularly in fixed expressions like this.
But try not to get too stuck on this, okay?
These words can be hard to tame for all of us.
So, remember that most of the time, affect is a verb
- a for action.
And effect is a noun
most of the time.
Although these words are tricky to master,
I hope that I've given you a couple of helpful tips
to improve your grammar when you're writing,
whether you're learning English as a second language
or if you're a native English speaker
who needs to brush up on some of that grammar.
It's easy to get complacent.
Before we finish, I've got a few questions
that you can practise with.
I want you to choose whether effect or affect
is the correct word in these sentences
starting here.
Some of the effects/affects of this medication
are sleep loss and headaches.
Is it effect or affect?
Effect. The effects.
The article tells us that it must be a noun.
Will the new rules effect/affect us too?
Affect or effect?
Affect.
The structure of the sentence tells us
that it must be a verb.
I hope the weather doesn't effect/affect
your plans today. Aren't you going to the beach?
Affect. Again the structure of the sentence
is telling us that we need a verb.
We'll create a greater effect/affect if we call a strike
and don't go to work tomorrow.
Affect or effect?
It's effect.
A greater effect.
So the article tells us that it must be a noun.
How did you go?
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Thanks for watching and I'll see you next week for sure.
Bye for now!