This is known as “seasonal affective disorder.” “Affective” here relates to the person’s emotional state.

Similarly, you might know someone who gets depressed during the winter months. You would say “flat affect” with the same cadence as “Ben Affleck.” (No reflection on Mr. For instance, a person who is emotionally undemonstrative may be described as having “a flat affect.” As a noun, affect refers to someone’s perceived emotional state or demeanor, and it’s pronounced, just this once, in two equally stressed syllables and with a short A as in cat. These emotionally oriented meanings pop up in common phrases used a psychological diagnoses and movie reviews. Luckily, these are pretty easy to keep straight because they mostly have to do with feeling “affection.” There are a number of applications for the affect-with-an-A form as a noun and an adjective. Action comes before result: A comes before E. In this example, the phrase “weather-affecting” acts as an adjective, modifying the noun “butterflies,” but because it retains its meaning as a verb, it retains its A spelling.Īs a general rule, use affect when talking about action and effect to name or describe the end result. Insecticides can help control weather- affecting butterflies. The major exception to the E-for-adjective rule comes when a gerund (the – ing form of the verb) forms part of the adjective: Levees provide an effective defense against floods. This phenomenon is called the Butterfly Effect. Heavy rains can cause floods, affecting harvests.įor nouns and adjectives, use the E spelling. In this sense, you’ll (almost always) use affect-with-an-A as a transitive verb.Ĭhaos theory holds that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can affect weather patterns half a world away. Something is acting upon something else to produce a response. The most common use of these words is in reference to causes and influences. Get your free sample back in 3 to 6 hours!

Have an effect or affect on someone