To “affect” a change would be to alter the change itself, for example if the university had already been reviewing its portfolio then the protesters might be affecting the change by making it happen more quickly.
To “effect” a change would be to cause the change in the first place.
This is one of the few oddities of the English language that I struggle with constantly. It seems like, as a native speaker, most of the other ones just “feel” or “sound” right, but I haven’t been able to nail that down with effect/affect for some reason
Isn’t effect a noun, affect a verb? Am I supposed to discern which in other ways?
To “affect” a change would be to alter the change itself, for example if the university had already been reviewing its portfolio then the protesters might be affecting the change by making it happen more quickly.
To “effect” a change would be to cause the change in the first place.
This is one of the few oddities of the English language that I struggle with constantly. It seems like, as a native speaker, most of the other ones just “feel” or “sound” right, but I haven’t been able to nail that down with effect/affect for some reason
I hope to effect a change in your perspective.
“Effect” can also be used as a verb, as used above.
Both can be both nouns and verbs. This to me is the most annoying English oddity of all.