A negative affect

[Stevenloan]

"People love to start rumors about celebrities. Sometimes it is not a big deal, but sometimes people can say some really nasty things about you and it can have a negative affect on your life, your future, and your family."

Hi guys! I found the sentences above on a website. I Googled "affect" and it is a verb, not a noun. Why did the writer use it as a noun in this situation?

Thanks a lot!

StevenLoan

[Erik_Kowal]

A typo, most likely, where the writer had intended to write 'effect'.

Almost everyone makes them now and again (I certainly do).

Actually, there is also a noun 'affect', a term used mostly by psychologists and psychotherapists that means 'mood' or 'state of mind'.

Unlike with the verb 'affect', the stress in the noun 'affect' falls on the A:

AFF-ect (noun) instead of a-FFECT (verb).

[Stevenloan]

Erik : Thanks a lot for your help. I really appreciate it.

StevenLoan

[Shelley]

I get affect and effect mixed up all the time. Sometimes, it's easy: "affectation" is never confused with "effectation", which I don't believe is even a word. Is there a mnemonic that helps to keep the two straight (like "I before E, except after C, and when sounded like A as in neighbor and weigh").

And, by the way, I know we've talked about this before.

[trolley]

The Action is Affect, the End result is Effect, unless it sound like an "A" as in neighbour and weigh...oops, scrap that last part.

[Shelley]

Oh, hey -- that's very helpful, trolley. It's probably been around forever, and I'm just now hearing it. (Except, of course, when I heard it the last time we talked about this!)

[gdwdwrkr]

Everything is new again!