quote:
Originally posted by kittypal:
I had the difference explained to me, but am still not sure, tell me if this is right?
An effect is what results from something, like you take your meds and get nauseous.
An affect is something that will change another thing 
like using bleach is an affective way to make clothes whiter?? I'm so confused!!! 
Many people find these words confusing, kittypal, and this is hardly surprising.
In the first place, we have to sort out four main cases, for there are two verbs and two nouns, all of them different.
(1)
effect (noun), is, as you say above, something that results from a cause. So the
effect seasickness meds are supposed to have is to relieve the nausea. Drugs intended for some other purpose may also, of course have nausea as a side effect (an unintended one).
(2)
effect (verb) means, most simply put, to bring something into effect, or cause it to occur, as in "The U.S. aimed at effecting a regime change in Iraq."
(3)
affect (verb) means to have an effect on something or someone, as in, "The suspect's testimony affected the jury strongly."
(4)
affect> (noun) is used rarely outside of the jargon of psychology.
Affect in this sense is the emotional aspect of some perceptual experience.
There are also adjective forms to be accounted for, of course. An effective med is one that reliably has the desired effect in sense (1). In clinical psychology, affective disorders are disturbed emotional experiences.
You should review the definitions given above on this page in the M-W dictionary link. There are many related senses, and I've only touched on the main ones. But when you review these, make sure you pay close attention to what part of speech belongs with each separate sense. That is very important here.
In your last paragraph, you should have said bleach is an
effective way of making clothes whiter. The is the effect (not affect) it has.
[This message was edited by maiku on 06-20-03 at 08:05 PM.]
