"Affect" vs. "Effect"
Take the "Alter Test."
20-SECOND TIP
Ever struggle to decide whether you should write “affect” or “effect”?
Tip: If you can replace the word with “alter,” use “affect.”
If not, use “effect.”
SEE IT IN ACTION
The Alter Test:
"The rain affected my mood" = "The rain altered my mood" ✓
"The rain had an effect on my mood" ≠ "The rain had an alter on my mood" ✗
3 guaranteed ways to get it right:
Affect is usually a verb (action).
Effect is usually a noun (thing).
When in doubt, try the Alter Test.
“I WISH I COULD WRITE LIKE THIS” OF THE WEEK
Taken from Morgan Housel’s “How This All Happened.”
Here’s how Housel summarizes 73 years of economic history in one sentence:
“Things were very uncertain, then they were very good, then pretty bad, then really good, then really bad, and now here we are.”
It doesn’t have to be complex.
In fact, it never should be.