Impact, Affect, Effect

For the past decade or so people have stopped using the verb "affect" and the noun "effect" and and have started substituting for both of them the ever present "impact". "How does it impact you?" The reason for this omission and substitution is that in spoken English we pronounce the two words the same. So people aren't sure if the word starts with an "a" or an "e". I speak Spanish and so this isn't a problem for me because these two cognates are present in that language and they are "afectar" for affect and "efecto" for effect and so it is easy to remember the spelling and the meaning.

There is a simple way to remember which is the verb and which is the noun and the spelling too. The one that starts with an "a" as in "action" as in "verb" is "affect" and it is the verb. The other one is the noun. Using the word "impact" as a verb is seen as substandard use in English, but many people are doing it.

Remember there are two words out there that would love to be used by you. So if you want to have a small effect on the future of spoken English and affect the way people react to you. Improve your use of English by making these small and easy changes.

"Impact" as a noun is accepted, but try not to abuse this word too much.