How Does This Affect Me?

I don’t know about you, but I can remember, for the longest time, doing everything I could just to avoid using certain words because of how confusing they were. Trying to differentiate between “lie vs. lay” and “affect vs. effect” just did not seem worth the trouble. After realizing that I would not be able to run from these words forever, I have since discovered some helpful hints for better understanding them.

The main difference between the first words mentioned is that “lay” requires a direct object and “lie” does not. Also, “lay” is an active verb, meaning “to place,” and “lie” is a still or passive verb that means “to recline.”

So you lay the baby down to sleep (the baby is the direct object), and the baby lies in its bed.

 

 

Now, let’s focus our attention on the differences between “affect vs. effect.” The majority of the time you will use the word “affect” with a verb, and you’ll use the word “effect” with a noun. Typically, “affect” means “to influence, but I will provide a definition just to clarify: affect. When considering the word “effect,” the main definition is “a result.” I will provide examples for both:

The speech really affected how I felt on the matter.

Here, “affect” is used as a verb.

The speech had a strong effect on me.

Here, “effect” is used as a noun.

 

My hope is that this blog will have a long, lasting effect on you. For those of you who do not find yourselves in some way affected by these examples of poor grammar, then I hope that I could have at least provided you with some entertainment along the way.