Effect or affect?
Here is another pair of frequently-confused words. 'Affect' is a transitive verb. This means it is something you do to something else. Examples of correct usage are:
The weather affected my sales of ice cream
There was a teacher's strike, but my son's class wasn't affected
Other factors can affect the result
Although 'effect' can be used as a verb (one can, for instance 'effect a change') it is more usually used as a noun, a thing. Here are some examples of it being used properly:
The effect of all these changes is significant
The effort involved determines the size of the effect
He was clearly suffering from the effects of his illness
Ray Blake
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