[Rocky]

You will be right 90% of the time if you use "affect" when you want a verb, and "effect" when you are looking for a noun. There is a verb "effect", but the occasion to use it doesn't arise nearly as often as the verb "affect".

[FollowingTheGrace]

While we are on the subject of word usage...

(I am not kidding) The following appeared in my church bulletin last Sunday at the end of a paragraph about a fund-raising dessert: "Donations gladly excepted!"

I meant to ask how much they collected...

[Jorge]

You will be right 90% of the time if you use "affect" when you want a verb, and "effect" when you are looking for a noun. There is a verb "effect", but the occasion to use it doesn't arise nearly as often as the verb "affect".

Very good. It just sounds right when you apply this rule...

[IronJack]

However, "effect" can be a verb and "affect" can be a noun.

I love this language!