<p>Well, I thought I understood the difference until my teacher handed out this worksheet today: I'm now massively confused.</p>
<p>Here are the definitions I got:</p>
<p>Affect: to make a display of liking or using; to put pretense of
Affect: to cause change or variation
Effect: to cause to come into being
Effect: an outcome or result</p>
<p>And here are the sentences....</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The new brightly colored wallpaper (affects, effects) my mood and makes me feel happier. </p></li>
<li><p>Mary was so depressed that she showed no (affect, effect) in her emotions.</p></li>
<li><p>Taking that drug has negative (affects, effects), so I looked for another medicine. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Affect is used as a verb, while effect is usually used as a noun.
The first definition you have of effect is uncommon. Usually, the noun form is what’s used.
Since the verb form of effect doesn’t work for 1 or 2, it has to be affect. And since #3 has to be a noun, it can only be effect.</p>
<p>Wow! I had the same answers, but my teacher said that 1. & 2. were “effect”. </p>
<p>I know that affect is rarely a noun, and effect is rarely a verb, but I’m really struggling to understand the difference between affect (v.) and effect (v.) as given by the above definitions.</p>
<ol>
<li>affects, because the wallpaper influences what the mood is, but does not bring moods into being.</li>
<li> affect, because “affect” can also be a noun, used to describe the presence of emotional content in responses. (This is a fairly specialized usage in psychology.)</li>
<li> effects, because the drug has these influences, and cannot have “affects” (noun).</li>
</ol>
<p>With regard to the verb: One can “effect” a change, if one brings the change into existence. Then the change could “affect” the situation. You can use “affect” (except for the noun) fairly synonymously with “have an effect on.” </p>
<p>One would normally “affect” a person, condition, or situation. You could “affect” a change if the change is already occurring and you alter it in some way. Similarly, you would normally “effect” an improvement, by causing the improvement. You would be “affecting” an improvement if the improvement is already occurring and you alter it. So you might “affect” your environment by “effecting” an improvement in recycling. If the noun connotes a change of condition (for example, “change” itself or “improvement”) then you are often “effecting” it. If the noun refers to a static situation, then you are often “affecting it.” One doesn’t “effect” a person. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>With the obscure meanings of affect as a noun and effect as a verb, it is doubtful that ETS will want to open itself to challenges from grammar gurus. Simply stated, there are plenty easier and less questionable ways for ETS to write SAT questions. </p>
<p>This is probably not that different from “comprised of” … a stomach-churning abuse of logical language construction that has nonetheless become “acceptable” because so many people are using it incorrectly, and to a lesser extent from what happened to the noun … myriad and its use as an adjective. </p>
<p>By the way, I wish that poor HS teacher the best of luck to not only teach the use of affect versus correctly but also understand the nuances. </p>
<p>Lastly, a visit to Mignon Fogarty’s site is always well worth the detour:</p>