Grammar tip for 10/18

What is the difference between 'effect' and 'affect'?

Well, it's simple: they serve different purposes in a sentence. They are not interchangeable, but they talk about the same thing. Am I confusing you more? Hold on.

Effect is a noun. It often describes how something affects (ironically) another thing. An example of this would be: "The effect that smell has on me..." or "The special effects in that movie were incredible!"

Affect, on the other hand, is a verb. It describes the action of something having an effect (eh?) on something. An example of that would be: "I won't let this fight affect my mood" or "Coronavirus is seriously affecting my mental health." (I apologize if that last one was too real).

It acts the same way in Spanish. "Efecto" is not the same thing as "afecto." But that's a whole other story for another post.

Thanks for reading!