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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Affect vs. effect

0 Which is correct-- 02br
02br
00We are working to effect change, 02br
02br
00or 02br
02br
00We are working to affect change??? 02br
02br
00I mean to say to bring about or cause or produce change. 0-
  

Top answer

0Hello, Guest! " 02br 00(verb) make believe; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" 02br 00(verb) have an emotional or cognitive impact upon; "This child impressed me as unusually mature"; "This behavior struck me as odd" 02br 00(verb) connect closely and often incriminatingly; "This new ruling affects your business" 02br 02br 00 effect: 02br 00(noun) an outward appearance; "he made a good impression"; "I wanted to create an impression of success"; "she retained that bold effect in her reproductions of the original painting" 02br 00(noun) (of a law) having legal validity; "the law is still in effect" 02br 00(noun) an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived); "he just did it for effect" 02br 00(noun) the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work 02br 00(noun) a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon; "the magnetic effect was greater when the rod was lengthwise"; "his decision had depressing consequences for business"; "he acted very wise after the event" 02br 00(noun) a symptom caused by an illness or a drug; "the effects of sleep loss"; "the effect of the anesthetic" 02br 00(verb) cause to happen or occur; "The scientists set up a shockwave" 02br 00(verb) act so as to bring about; "01b 00effect a change02b 00" 02br 02br 00It looks as if what you're looking for is "effect a change" 02br 00Yet I wonder whether it shouldn't be "we are working on effecting the change"... 02br 00Anyway you'll need the definite article before "change", for I guess you've already defined that change.

— Pieanne

  • 0Hello, Guest!
  • " 02br 00(verb) make believe; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" 02br 00(verb) have an emotional or cognitive impact upon; "This child impressed me as unusually mature"; "This behavior struck me as odd" 02br 00(verb) connect closely and often incriminatingly; "This new ruling affects your business" 02br 02br 00 effect: 02br 00(noun) an outward appearance; "he made a good impression"; "I wanted to create an impression of success"; "she retained that bold effect in her reproductions of the original painting" 02br 00(noun) (of a law) having legal validity; "the law is still in effect" 02br 00(noun) an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived); "he just did it for effect" 02br 00(noun) the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work 02br 00(noun) a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon; "the magnetic effect was greater when the rod was lengthwise"; "his decision had depressing consequences for business"; "he acted very wise after the event" 02br 00(noun) a symptom caused by an illness or a drug; "the effects of sleep loss"; "the effect of the anesthetic" 02br 00(verb) cause to happen or occur; "The scientists set up a shockwave" 02br 00(verb) act so as to bring about; "01b 00effect a change02b 00" 02br 02br 00It looks as if what you're looking for is "effect a change" 02br 00Yet I wonder whether it shouldn't be "we are working on effecting the change"...
  • 02br 00Anyway you'll need the definite article before "change", for I guess you've already defined that change.
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18 Answers
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0Hello, Guest! 02br
02br
00 affect: 02br
00(noun) the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion 02br
00(verb) act physically on; have an effect upon 02br
00(verb) have an effect upon; "Will the new rules affect me?" 02br
00(verb) make believe; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" 02br
00(verb
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0 Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's like this: "affect" is a verb; "effect" is a noun. 02br
02br
00Exception: When the verb means "cause", it's "to effect". 02br
02br
00Result: The correct version is "We are working to effect change". 02br
02br
00CJ 0-
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0 surely you could also 'affect change' which would mean 'to produce an effect in change' ie. changing the course of change?0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10surely you could also 'affect change' which would mean 'to produce an effect in change' ie. changing the course of change?12blockquote
10Yes, you could do that, but how often does a person really need to express such an abstract and complex thought?02br
02br
00And if you di
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0 ok, makes sense - thanks!0-
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CalifJimNinety-nine percent of the time, it's like this: "affect" is a verb; "effect" is a noun.

Exception: When the verb means "cause", it's "to effect".

Result: The correct version is "We are working to effect change".

CJ
Does that mean all of these are incorrect?
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All of those should be "effect," in my opinion.
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DitchDoes that mean all of these are incorrect?

... for people to affect change than just counting on others ...
We don’t generally have the power to affect change. ...

As a Fox Fan, ... and affect change at FNC.


... the only conceivable per
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I guess I'll have to rethink my practice of checking articles at reputable news sites when I'm unsure about grammar points.
Although, I don't think Fox counts as a "reputable news site".
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Put affect change into a search engine and then put effect change in, you will find a general consensus that affect is the right answer. You affect change, which has an effect on people.
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