LETTER #1 - A dear reader writes:

Dear Miss Communication,
I am having the hardest time figuring out the difference between "affect" and "effect."  My professors have been marking up my papers left and right, because I seem to use them at the wrong time, every time!  Can you help me?
Sincerely,
A feckless fool

Dear Feckless,
There is a pretty simple way to figure out which "a/e-ffect" you want to use--most of the time anyway.  Try substituting the words "act on" or "end result" into the sentence you are writing, and see which one fits better.  Look at these examples:

How can I AFFECT (Act on) the way my group works together so we do the best job we can?
What EFFECT (End result) will my being absent from a meeting have on my group?

Do you see how this works?  Try one...  Which sentence below is written correctly?

A.    I didn't know it would affect my interactions with others, but breaking my leg had an interesting affect on how people talked to me.

B.    I didn't know it would effect my interactions with others, but breaking my leg had an interesting effect on how people talked to me.

C.    I didn't know it would affect my interactions with others, but breaking my leg had an interesting effect on how people talked to me.

D.    I didn't know it would effect my interactions with others, but breaking my leg had an interesting affect on how people talked to me.

The answer is below.

Effectively yours,
Miss Communication
 
 

If you picked answer C., you are correct.
 
 

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Updated 9/16/01