verb · neutral

affect

/əˈfekt/a·FFECT

Band 6-7speakingtask2

to have an influence on or make a change to something

Examples

How will the new policy affect small businesses in the area?

The drought affected crop yields across the region.

Students' motivation can be affected by the quality of teaching.

Band 8 sentence

Changes in government funding can directly affect universities’ ability to offer specialist courses.

Collocations

  • affect + object (affect something)
  • be affected by
  • significantly/negatively/positively affect

Word family

affectation nounaffected adj

Common mistakes

to effectto affect

affect onaffect / be affected by

Say it for a higher band

5influence6impact7+affect

Synonyms

influence

impact

Easily confused

effect

The effect of the new law was immediate.

Related words

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In Sublist 2

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