Brians' Errors

[CaseReynolds]

Another way to remember affect and effect: Affect is the verb; effect is the noun.

[4rumid]

Actually, as Debbi said above, the reverse is true too.

[CaseReynolds]

Yes, there are two exceptions that I know of, off hand: You can effect change, and you can have a flat affect, but most of the time the affect is a verb, effect is noun rule will work.

[kdrew]

This information is so helpful! I am currently writing an article and I was just wondering about this case of affect/effect.

"Pregnant women need to take extra precaution about what they subject their body to so that harmful elements are not absorbed into the body and negatively affect the growing child."

Did I use the right one? It is a verb in this sentence, so it should be "affect", right? Thanks for the input!

[Antonia]

That's exactly right--"affect" is correct in this case.

I spotted a spelling error--"precaution" should be "precautions."

And while I'm throwing my two cents in, it feels like a lot of info packed into one sentence (and I don't love the redundant "body"). What about breaking it up?

"Pregnant women need to take extra precautions about what they subject their body to. Harmful elements can be absorbed and may negatively affect the growing child."

That's not perfect, but you see what I'm getting at...

[Debbi]

And shouldn't it be "women" and "their bodies" to be parallel? I'd probably just make it singular. "A pregnant woman"....."her body" to avoid the whole quesion.

[kdrew]

Thank you, Antonia and Debbi! I am currently just drafting the article now, but I sure do appreciate the extra tips--who knows if I would have caught those errors on my own. I could always use some helpful freebies. Thanks for answering my affect/effect question as well! Hope you all are having a great weekend!

[Lysis]

You know, I can't for the life of me get "past" and "passed" down. I usually choose other wording. I understand past is a noun and passed is a verb, and I get "the past" vs "I passed her in the hallway." I can't think of an example when I get stuck. :-/ But I get stuck kinda often on that word.

[rosefiend]

One place you would not correct somebody's grammar: at a store named "Beer and Gun's" where a guy with a "Born Too Loose" tattoo is at the counter.