"Effect" and "affect" are very different as verbs. As Craig points out, "effect" means to bring about or to create -- to bring into existence something that wasn't present before. "Affect" means to cause some kind of change in something that already exists -- to have an impact on something. I do not share Craig's sense that verbal "affect" is limited to emotional or intellectual states. I haven't checked its typical collocations, but it seems to me it can apply in concrete, mundane contexts as well -- "the frost didn't affect my roses one bit"? Misspelling the verb form can cause meaning confusion; I don't have an example at hand, but I have seen them occasionally in student papers. As to the noun forms, "affect" as a noun (with stress on the first syllable) has only the specialized meaning Bill refers to. The adjective "affective" is derived from this noun, not from the verb "affect". "Affective" keeps its full "short a" vowel -- /æ/ -- in the first syllable. If you affect something, you have an effect on it; but sometimes your actions may not be effective. If you effect something, you cause it to come about. But sometimes you do not get the desired effect, meaning your actions were not effective. A mood disorder will cause a person to have abnormal affect. This would be an affective disorder. And let's not forget affectations -- exaggerated quirks or behaviors people adopt artificially in order to make an impression (but they fail, because they overdo it). Such actions are "affected" (used adjectivally). These words are now so meaningless to me that I can't tell whether "affect" can be used as a verb in the last sense, e.g. "He was affecting the behavior of country gentleman." Sounds awful, but I think it's possible. Dr. Johanna Rubba, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Linguistics Linguistics Minor Advisor English Dept. Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Ofc. tel. : 805-756-2184 Dept. tel.: 805-756-2596 Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 E-mail: [log in to unmask] URL: cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/