I touched on the flower. I influenced the flower. I affected the flower. I had an effect on the flower.
I caused a commotion. I produced a commotion. I effected a commotion.
Good?
To affect something is to influence it. (To have an effect on it.) Note that, confusingly, the verb “affect” can be defined in terms of the noun “effect”.
So “effect” is describing a specific cause-effect chain while Affect is describing the existence of some sort of cause-effect chain without specifying any particular one? (Overeating effects weight gain, Diet affects weight.)
“Affected the flower” and “effected a commotion” are right, but I think you’d
be better of just banishing the verb effect from your vocabulary. It’s
extremely uncommon and I and
otherpeople associate it with
pointy-haired bosses and
bureaucrats.
(There is another unrelated verb usage of effectused by
musicians: to effect
a signal is to process that signal with an
effect.)
I touched on the flower. I influenced the flower. I affected the flower. I had an effect on the flower.
I caused a commotion. I produced a commotion. I effected a commotion.
Good?
So “effect” is describing a specific cause-effect chain while Affect is describing the existence of some sort of cause-effect chain without specifying any particular one? (Overeating effects weight gain, Diet affects weight.)
“Affected the flower” and “effected a commotion” are right, but I think you’d be better of just banishing the verb effect from your vocabulary. It’s extremely uncommon and I and other people associate it with pointy-haired bosses and bureaucrats.
(There is another unrelated verb usage of effect used by musicians: to effect a signal is to process that signal with an effect.)
Agreed that the words are terrible as communication tools. Is there a good substitute that i can use to talk about causality?