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Hi Rowland.
I was looking through your list and have always used, "The prison sentence had the desired effect." As "effect" is a noun, isn´t it?
As for "affect", I have always taken it as a verb, e.g. "His mental stability was affected by the prison sentence."
Am a little confused now...
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There is something about the confusion between affect vs effect in the Concise English Dictionary:
Affect is primarily a verb meaning 'make a difference to'.
Effect is used both as a noun and a verb, meaning 'a result' or 'to bring about a result' respectively.
Effect as a verb isn't used that much really. It's quite formal.
Some examples:
Bob was deeply affected by the robbery.
Stormier weather is the effect of global warming.
Bob effected change in his local community.
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Hi Kemmylin, Nice to hear from you.
Affect is a verb which means "to cause a change in something." i.e. John changed his job because it affected his health.
Effect is a noun which means "result" or consequence. I.e. The change in job had a good effect and he was no longer ill.
However, there is a slight problem. The word "effect" is also sometimes used as a verb which means "to bring something into being."
As Carl says, there is a current dispute about these two words. Ah! Is nothing ever simple in English Grammar.
Regards Rowland.
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My trouble is with learned/leant. Burned/burnt etc
Passed and past caused confusion too. And don't get me started on effect/affect!!
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Hi Louise.
Learned and burned are American spellings while learnt and burnt are British. They are the past tense of learn and burn.
However, "learned" pronounced as "ler-nerd" describes a person who is educated.
e.g. He is a learned person.
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One easy way to remember when to use effect vs. affect is to recognize that the word effect starts with the letter "e" which is in the word "verb." Effect expresses an action or active mood, and is therefore used like a verb; on the otherhand, "affect" is passive. Another great, common error in grammar is the misuse of the words sit and set. He sits in the chair which was set on the floor.
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A good list that's all too common in first drafts. And no, Rowland, you're right - nothing ever is simple in English grammar :-)
JD
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