A Grammar Matter

To a friend requesting a quick review of proper usage for EFFECT and AFFECT, I offer the following, with both thanks and apologies to William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White:

Both effect and affect may be used as nouns and verbs, but with entirely different meanings.

As a noun effect denotes “result.” As a verb it means “bring about”:

• Effect (n.): "The effects of my recent gallivanting in stiletto heels were blisters, a sprained ankle, and aghast glances from passers-by."
• Effect (v.): "Frequent T'ai Chi practice has already begun to effect positive change in my husband's blood pressure."

As a verb affect means “cause a change in.” As a noun it refers to one’s outward show of emotion:

• Affect (v.): "My attention to this grammatical matter affected my writing for the rest of the afternoon."
• Affect (n.): "My low affect formerly caused my piano playing to sound colorless and flat."

In The Elements of Style, Strunk and White complain that effect as a noun “has often lately been loosely used in perfunctory writing about fashions, music, painting, and other arts. . . .” They opine that “[t]he writer who has a definite meaning to express will not take refuge in such vagueness." I respectfully suggest that time and chance have overtaken this pejorative remark. Were Strunk and White alive today, they perhaps might have accepted the following noun usage of effect:

• “My new confidence with Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier has brought about fiery and sometimes inappropriately sudden bravura effects, particularly with the final B-minor Fugue."