# Effect or Affect?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effect-or-affect/313410>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 21, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effect-or-affect/313410 "2005-07-21T02:39:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effect-or-affect/313410/21 "2005-07-22T19:25:15Z")

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Normal usage for affect/effect is that something is making changes to something else, where X does something to Y. X affects Y, and Y feels the effects of X. In this case, it’s always the case that _affect_ is the **verb** and _effect_ is the noun describing the result of what is affected.

**Effect** as a verb means “to cause to happen, to cause to be,” and the absurdity of a given thing that affects something else **effecting** it when the wrong verb is used produces some laughable sentences. Trees can be affected by soil nutrient depletion, drought, lack of sunlight, etc., but “only God can effect a tree,” to paraphrase Joyce.

**Affect** as a noun is nearly always an affectation. There are three rare uses: (1) synonymous with _mien, countenance_, (2) synonymous with _pose_ or “expression assumed for misleading purposes,” and (3) the general shape and growth format of a plant, particularly a tree or shrub, synonymous with _habit_. (Both “affect” and “habit” are specialized uses of words generally meaning something quite different when used by botanists and landscape architects in this usage.)

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