The difference between "affect" and "effect" is just one letter, but the meanings are not at all the same.
“affect”和“effect”的区别只有一个字母，但意思完全不一样。

Reading this article may affect your grammar, which could have an effect on your knowledge of when to use "affect" vs. "effect" in English.

阅读这篇文章可能会影响你的语法，这可能会影响你在什么时候使用英语中的“affect”和““effect”。

While the words "affect" and "effect" have only a one-letter difference, each word signifies a vastly different concept. Together, "affect" and "effect" have become two of the most commonly confused words in the English language. But the end result is that knowing the correct word to use, in the correct way, isn't as difficult as you might think.

虽然“affect”和“effect”这两个词只有一个字母的区别，但每个词都代表着一个截然不同的概念。“affect”和“effect”已经成为英语中最容易混淆的两个单词。但最终的结果是，知道用正确的方式使用正确的单词并不像你想象的那么难。

Contents 目录

How to Use 'Affect' vs. 'Effect' 如何使用“Affect”和“Effect”
When to Use 'Effect' 什么时候使用Effect
When to Use 'Affect' 什么时候使用Affect
A Trick to Determine When to Use 'Affect' vs. 'Effect' 一个确定何时使用“Affect”和“Affect”的技巧
Exception: 'Effect' as a Verb 例外:Effect用作动词
Exception: 'Affect' as a Noun 例外:Affect作为名词

How to Use 'Affect' vs. 'Effect' 如何使用“Affect”和“Effect”

The basic difference between "affect" and "effect" is pretty simple. One word has an influence, while the other has a result. "Affect," which is a verb, means "to impact, change or influence." "Effect," which is a noun, means "a result or consequence."

“affect”和“effect”的基本区别非常简单。一个词有影响，而另一个词有结果。“Affect”是动词，意思是“影响、改变或影响”。Effect是一个名词，意思是“结果或结果”。

Take these sentences, for example, that use the two words "affect" and "effect:"

以使用“affect”和“effect”这两个词的句子为例:

• When a cold weather system and a warm weather system collide, the effect may be high winds that have a devastating effect on your property.当寒冷天气系统和温暖天气系统碰撞时，可能会产生强风，对您的财产造成毁灭性的影响。

• As I mentioned earlier, the weather could affect someone's mood.正如之前提到的，天气会影响一个人的情绪。

• The earlier sunset will affect me personally, but not as much as my emotions affect me on a daily basis.较早的日落会影响我个人，但不会像我的情绪对我日常生活的影响那么大。

Makes sense, right? Truth is, there are several more key differences that can affect when you choose one word over the other.

很有道理，对吧?事实上，当你选择一个词而不是另一个词时，还有几个关键的区别会影响你。

Knowing the exceptions to these words could, in effect, influence whether you use the noun version or the verb as an action word.

实际上，知道这些词的例外情况会影响你是使用名词形式还是动词形式作为动作词。

When to Use 'Effect' 什么时候使用Effect

Here are a few more key differences between the meaning of "affect" and "effect" that offer clues as to the correct usage of these words.

下面是“affect”和“effect”意思之间的一些关键区别，为正确使用这两个词提供了线索。

When "effect" is used as a noun meaning "a result or consequence," it will usually follow these words:

当effect作为名词使用，意思是“结果或结果”时，通常会跟在下面这些单词后面:

the
any
an
into
on
take
or

These sentences are examples of using "effect" correctly in its noun form:

下面这些句子都是正确使用effect名词形式的例子:

• It will take time for the changes to have an effect, but they aren't likely to impact your personal effects.这些改变需要时间才能产生效果，但不太可能影响到你的个人生活。

• Scientists are studying the effect of gamma rays on bacteria.科学家们正在研究伽马射线对细菌的影响。

• The workers on strike are eager for the policy change to take effect in writing.罢工的工人们迫切希望政策变化以书面形式生效。

When to Use 'Affect' 什么时候使用Affect

"Affect," when used as a verb meaning to "influence someone or something," does not follow any of the words that "effect" does. When used properly, the verb "affect" never follows the words "the," "any," "an," "into," "on," "take" and "or."

“Affect”做动词时，意思是“影响某人或某事”，它和“effect”的词尾不一样。如果使用得当，动词“affect”绝不跟在“the”、“any”、“an”、“into”、“on”、“take”和“or”后面。

The following sentences are examples of using "affect" as a verb:

下面是affect用作动词的例句:

• Road construction will affect everyone's mood, but so will the sun coming out.道路建设会影响每个人的情绪，但太阳出来也会。

• This new homeroom policy may affect student behavior. 这项新的班主任政策可能会影响学生的行为。

• The new law is going to affect the cold weather we have because of climate change.新法律将影响我们因气候变化而经历的寒冷天气。

A Trick to Determine When to Use 'Affect' vs. 'Effect' 一个确定何时使用“Affect”和“Affect”的技巧

If you are one of the many people who struggle to remember the difference between writing "affect" and "effect" in a sentence, one trick is to look to the first letter of each word for a clue. The "a" in affect signals action, which could remind you to use it as a verb. When you see the "e" in effect, remember the phrase "cause and effect" — cause creates effect, which is the noun form of the word.

如果你和很多人一样，很难记住在句子中写“affect”和“effect”的区别，有一个技巧就是从每个单词的首字母中寻找线索。affect中的“a”表示动作，可以提醒你把它用作动词。当你在effect中看到"e"时，记住短语"cause and effect"——cause creates effect，这是这个单词的名词形式。

The usage of the verb "affect" versus the noun "effect" may seem straightforward, and it usually is — until it's time to break the rules for these words, that is.

动词“affect”和名词“effect”的用法似乎很简单，通常也是如此——直到是时候打破这些词的规则了，也就是说。

Like every other confusing aspect of the English language, there are rules and there are exceptions when using these two words. To get these two words right, even though they sound alike, the end result is that you must know the exceptions as well as the rules.

就像英语中其他令人困惑的方面一样，使用这两个词有规则也有例外。为了正确理解这两个词，即使它们听起来很像，最终的结果是你必须既知道规则，也知道例外。

Exception: 'Effect' as a Verb 例外:Effect用作动词

While the word "effect" is most often used in English as a noun to signify "a change that results when something is done or happens" or "a particular feeling or mood created by something," there is one notable exception.

虽然“effect”这个词在英语中最常作为名词使用，表示“当做某事或发生某事时产生的变化”或“由某事产生的特定感觉或情绪”，但也有一个明显的例外。

The word "effect" sometimes can be used as a verb. For example, in the phrase "the new administration hopes to effect a peace settlement," the word "effect" is a verb meaning that it "caused something to come into being."

effect这个词有时也可以用作动词。例如，在短语“the new administration hope to effect a peace settlement”中，effect这个词是动词，意思是“导致某事发生”。

When "effect" is used as a verb, the verb version also may signal that something has been accomplished. For example, if "Professor Darling is determined to effect change," then the word "effect" is being used as a verb to show that something is potentially being accomplished and that she has been able to effect change. "Effect" as a verb will affect the way you use it.

当effect用作动词时，动词也可以表示某事已经完成。例如，如果“达林教授决心实现改变”，那么“effect”这个词就被用作动词来表示某事正在被潜在地完成，并且她已经能够实现改变。Effect作为动词会影响你使用它的方式。

These exceptions aren't new rules, but they can make it tricky to use the right words in the correct context when speaking or writing.

这些例外并不是新规则，但它们会让你在说话或写作时在正确的上下文中使用正确的单词变得棘手。

Exception: 'Affect' as a Noun 例外:Affect作为名词

The exception in English to using "affect" as a noun is a fairly straightforward difference between "affect" and "effect," as far as exceptions go. There is really only one usage in which "affect" should be used as a noun instead of a verb.

英语中“affect”作为名词使用的例外是“affect”和“effect”之间相当直接的区别，就例外而言。affect在一种用法中应该用作名词而不是动词。

The exception to using "affect" as a noun affects a narrow segment of options used when describing, speaking or writing about emotions or mood. Knowing this exception can help you know when to use "affect" as producing change and when to use it as a noun that represents an object.

affect作为名词使用的例外情况仅限于在描述、说或写情绪或情绪时使用的一小部分选项。了解这个异常可以帮助您了解何时使用“affect”来产生更改，何时使用它作为表示对象的名词。

For example, the noun "affect" becomes the right word to describe "an emotional response or impact."

例如，名词“affect”成为描述“情绪反应或影响”的正确词。

This often is the case in psychology or psychiatry when the noun "affect" refers to an emotional response — for example, the gestures, body language, vocal tone or facial expressions that we produce as the consequence of specific emotions.

在心理学或精神病学中，当名词“影响”指的是一种情绪反应时，通常是这种情况，例如，我们作为特定情绪的结果而产生的手势、肢体语言、声音语调或面部表情。

The result of using "affect" as a noun is that this "affect" — usually referred to as "flat affect" — also commonly is used to describe a lack of response.

将“affect”作为名词使用的结果是，这个“affect”——通常被称为“flat affect”——也通常被用来描述缺乏回应。

The following sentences are examples of using the noun "affect" as an object word:

下面的句子是使用名词“affect”作为宾语的例子:

• She did not have an emotional response to the sad movie; her affect was flat. 她对这部悲伤的电影没有情感反应;她的感情是平淡的。

• His accent was an affect because he was only pretending to be French.他的口音是假的，因为他只是假装是法国人。

While knowing the difference between "affect" and "effect" when writing or speaking can take a bit of getting used to, knowing when to deploy the right word — and what the exceptions to the right word are — will help you make more sense of the English language.