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affect vs effect
#1

I consider myself a real idiot when it comes to the English language, and perhaps a lot of other things. Every time I see the DB function affected_rows, it makes me wonder if it should be effected_rows. So I checked it out on Google, and talked to somebody else about it, and it didn't help.

If affect is supposed to be a verb, and effect a noun, but "affected rows" makes it an adjective, right? Nowhere in the dictionary that I'm looking at does it say that affected or effected would be right.
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#2

Affected vs. Effected

Affected and effected are two words that are commonly confused in writing, while their meanings are
related they are very different. We want to make sure we're always communicating effectively so
keeping these two words straightforward is important.

Effected means to actually do something, to execute, produce or bring about something. It's an action
word of actually doing something, i.e. "He effected a reorganization of the finance department."

Affected is used to describe something being impacted. This is a word you would commonly use when
something has been impacted, i.e. "The accountants in finance were affected by the reorganization."

You can even see the two used in the same sentence, "He effected a reorganization of the department
and many of the people there were significantly affected."

They're essentially pronounced the same so this can lead many people to get them flipped when
writing them. Keeping them straight can be difficult but keeping on top of them will ensure your
communications are grammatically correct.

By: Jeffrey Glen
What did you Try? What did you Get? What did you Expect?

Joined CodeIgniter Community 2009.  ( Skype: insitfx )
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#3

(03-23-2017, 03:14 PM)InsiteFX Wrote: Affected vs. Effected

Affected and effected are two words that are commonly confused in writing, while their meanings are
related they are very different. We want to make sure we're always communicating effectively so
keeping these two words straightforward is important.

Effected means to actually do something, to execute, produce or bring about something. It's an action
word of actually doing something, i.e. "He effected a reorganization of the finance department."

Affected is used to describe something being impacted. This is a word you would commonly use when
something has been impacted, i.e. "The accountants in finance were affected by the reorganization."

You can even see the two used in the same sentence, "He effected a reorganization of the department
and many of the people there were significantly affected."

They're essentially pronounced the same so this can lead many people to get them flipped when
writing them. Keeping them straight can be difficult but keeping on top of them will ensure your
communications are grammatically correct.

By: Jeffrey Glen


Just when you think you know the difference, then something new is thrown at you. If you look at the dictionary, and vocabulary.com, it would seem that Jeffrey Glen is actually wrong. Trust me, I'm not trying to argue. I claim to know nothing.

I have my college level English book at home (from 20+ years ago). If I have time, I'll see if it mentions anything.
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#4

I don't know the technical literary reasoning, but "affected_rows" is correct. The rows were affected.
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#5

(03-23-2017, 04:09 PM)JayAdra Wrote: I don't know the technical literary reasoning, but "affected_rows" is correct. The rows were affected.


Maybe Smile
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#6

The Oxford has this infographic that might help:

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/...ual-guide/
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#7

Affected Rows is definitely right. Effected rows would be really weird usage.
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#8

Quote:"affected rows" makes it an adjective, right?

Essentially, yes. Verbs can become adjectives by turning into participles. (Sorry you asked yet?)
Participles are verb forms ending in ‑ing (present participles) or -ed or -en (past participles) that modify nouns.

While effect is usually a noun, it can be a verb when used in the sense of to bring about e.g. "The update method is used to effect change on the rows." However, once the method has run we would want to know which (or how many) rows were affected not effected.

So, for me, the correct DB function name is affected_rows.

In the interests of full disclosure, there are cases where a noun can act as an adjective e.g. "ticket office".  Rolleyes
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#9

(03-27-2017, 08:42 AM)dave friend Wrote:
Quote:"affected rows" makes it an adjective, right?

Essentially, yes. Verbs can become adjectives by turning into participles. (Sorry you asked yet?)
Participles are verb forms ending in ‑ing (present participles) or -ed or -en (past participles) that modify nouns.

While effect is usually a noun, it can be a verb when used in the sense of to bring about e.g. "The update method is used to effect change on the rows." However, once the method has run we would want to know which (or how many) rows were affected not effected.

So, for me, the correct DB function name is affected_rows.

In the interests of full disclosure, there are cases where a noun can act as an adjective e.g. "ticket office".  Rolleyes


This sounds like the best answer to me. I might have learned about participles if I had paid attention in school, but that was over twenty years ago. I really hated English class.
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#10

(03-23-2017, 04:09 PM)JayAdra Wrote: I don't know the technical literary reasoning, but "affected_rows" is correct. The rows were affected.

I think It is the best answer.  Smile
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