Affect is a verb – “to affect” – meaning to influence or have an impact on something. Effect is the noun – “an effect (a positive or a negative effect) is the result of being affected by something. There is also a verb “to effect”, which means to bring something about – “to effect a change”.

Do I use effect or affect?

Generally, we use affect as a verb (an action word) and effect as a noun (an object word).

How do you remember affect and effect?

A good rule of thumb to remember for “affect” and “effect” is: If you're discussing cause and effect and you're referring to the ending result of said cause, use “effect.” You can remember that “effect” represents the end, as they both start with “e.”