I can remember learning about affect and effect in school–and being completely confused all of the time. Is that how you feel? Well, get ready to be relieved of your affect/effect phobia!
Generally speaking, you can count on Affect being a Verb and Effect being a Noun. So how does this help you?
That will not AFFECT the outcome–Verb meaning influence or alter
Her job did not AFFECT her college studies—Verb meaning influence or alter
What is the EFFECT of her test scores?–Noun meaning result
This will have no EFFECT on my performance—Noun meaning result
So…just remember RAVEN–and you will always use the proper AFFECT/EFFECT! Remember Affect is a VERB and Effect is a Noun.
Remember
Affect
Verb
Effect
Noun
Note: For you non-nemonic lovers, there is also another way to remember that effect is the noun. If you can remember that an, a, & the are noun markers, that is they mark the noun, telling you that a noun is coming soon. Some programs call these articles. Anyway, if you can remember that that thE is a noun marker then you can probably remember that thE ends with an E and Effect begins with an E: thE Effect.
Teacher Tip: Students often think that the word and, which is a coordinating conjunction, is a noun marker (or article parentheses). Therefore, I like to word the three neon markers in a different way so that the AN is not up against the coordinating conjunction AND. So try teaching the three noun markers with these two things in mind:
1. Order them in this way: and, a, and the. This will keep the AN and AND from being against each other, which makes students think that AND is the noun marker.
2. Also, if you write them on the board, or you are making your own worksheets (or in my case, writing my own English books), do not use the word AND at all in writing. Instead use the symbol: an, a, & the.
