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Step 1
Classify "affect" as a verb. It is defined as "producing a change; causing an effect and eliciting an emotional response." Some examples of its usage are "The poem affected her profoundly" and "The frost negatively affected crops."
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Step 2
Categorize "effect" as a noun. It is defined as "a consequence; a result; a desired impression or a phenomenon." Examples of the word usage include, "The drought had a negative effect on crops" and "My letter of complaint had no effect."
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Step 3
Edit your writing for proper usage of "effect" and "affect" by looking for easy-to-spot clues. Because "effect" is a noun and not a verb, it should never end with -ing or -ed. "Affect" must be connected somehow to the subject of the sentence because it is a verb and will be the verb in the predicate of the sentence in most cases.
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Step 4
Remember the proper usage for "affect" and "effect" by using this simple mnemonic device: a very easy noun. It stands for "affect verb, effect noun."
Comments
pjerwin said
on 11/12/2007 Either word may be used as a noun or verb. As a verb, affect may have something to do with pretense or it may indicate producing or influencing something, but as a noun, affect has something to do with observable manifestations. Effect as a verb refers to striving for, causing or bringing about a result, but as a noun, an effect can be the outward sign that something was caused, brought about, accomplished or put into operation. Or it may indicate the creation of a desired impression. Effect has a wide range of uses as a noun, so it is ordinarily the proper choice when intending it as a noun.
loomerds said
on 9/15/2007 If only it were so simple. Effect can also be a verb, and understanding its use as a verb is the difficult part of using affect and effect correctly.