difference between "influence"\affect and effect

Question

I don't know what the difference between "influence"\affect and effect.Anyone can tell?

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Affect and Effect are the verb and the noun. (In most cases. You can effect change, which means bring about, and in that case is a verb.)

The difference between affect and influence is not great. Inanimate objects can affect something, can there's an implicaton that there's some mental component of influence, but even so, the wind can influence what direction the boat goes.

Influence can be a noun too - you can see someone's influence, but in that case, I'd say there's a much stronger aspect of thought. A great writer might influence hundreds of aspiring writers.

Jhumjhum · Answer

influence-power to affect/change/control.Weak people are easily influenced by others.Adult videos are a bad influence on children.
affect-to influence/to have an effct on.We were deeply affected by the news of his death.
effect - result/consequence/come to force.What effect will this drugs on me?

Anonymous · Answer

It's probably worth knowing that this is one of the common mistakes that native english speakers make. There are many people who, in writing, mix up affect and effect, most usually by using effect as a verb.

Similarly, many native english people mix up the words:

to, too and two,
there and their,
where wear and were
accept and except
by,buy and 'bye
for, four, fore
here and hear

There are many, many others - but I think that these are about the most common

Gino76 · Answer

affect - this focuses on your emotional aspect. eg. your feelings have been touched by his heroism.
effect - this focuses on the result. eg. 1+1 = 2
influence - you unknowingly adopted a bevavior or a thing. eg. in a prison cell, every convic that will be put inside that cell well be influnced by the persons or inmates already there.

Likeguslee · Answer

It's probably worth knowing that this is one of the common mistakes that native English speakers make. There are many people who, in writing, mix up affect and effect, most usually by using effect as a verb. ??

Effect can be used as a verb to express the idea of “bringing about changes”

By becoming an informed voter, and voting regularly, an ordinary citizen can be expected to effect changes in government policy over time.

Here are the differences in affect and effect as described in detail in the following usage note from American Heritage Dictionary:

Usage Note: Affect and effect have no senses in common. As a verb affect is most commonly used in the sense of "to influence" (how smoking affects health). Effect means "to bring about or execute": layoffs designed to effect savings. Thus the sentence These measures may affect savings could imply that the measures may reduce savings that have already been realized, whereas These measures may effect savings implies that the measures will cause new savings to come about.

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Yes, effect can indeed be a verb. But the common error is when people say things like "How will this effect you?" when what they MEAN is "How will the affect you?"

They also do the reverse - "You can see the affects of time on how this rock has eroded." (I believe that only the field of psychology uses "affect" as noun.)

It's not that effect cannot function as a perfectly good verb. It's that people mix up affect and effect and forget which one is which.

difference between "influence"\affect and effect

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