Effective vs Affective

Michel De Montaigne, one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance once said, “The greater parts of the world’s troubles are due to questions of grammar.” One odd inflection here and one wrong preposition there, and your speech is stumped! Nothing gets you lisping and stuttering more when stuck for right grammar. However, grammatical bloopers are no uncommon and even the most scrupulous blogger would testify to that. After all, with an infinite array of nouns, prepositions, infinitives, gerunds, antonyms, synonyms, homonyms and more, one is sure to botch up at times. And one common area where most people tend to goof up is when choosing between ‘effective’ and ‘affective’. Often the real trouble lies in picking the right word for the sentence. However, having an idea on the meaning and usage of these similar sounding yet unlike words can crack the deal for you. If you too have a tough time choosing between ‘effective’ and ‘affective’, then streaming through the following article should leave you with a better idea on this.

Difference Between Effective And Affective

Even before you get down to the business of cracking the egregious confusion between ‘effective’ and ‘affective’, taking a quick shot at the etymology of these two extremely commonplace words will put you in a better position to estimate their difference. The word ‘effective’ derives its importation from the word ‘effect’, which is used both as a noun and as a verb, while the word ‘affective’ draws its inspiration from the verb ‘affect’. Therefore, getting a hang of the nuance and usage of both ‘effect’ and ‘affect ‘will leave you with a better understanding of ‘effective’ and ‘affective’.
The dictionary defines ‘effect’ as “A phenomenon that follows and is caused by some earlier phenomenon". To put it in plain words, ‘effect’ is defined as the ending or result of a consequence. When used as a noun, ‘effect’ signifies the change caused by something. For example, in this sentence “The drought had a major effect on the world economy”, a change is followed by a phenomenon or an event. When used as a verb, ‘effective’ usually means producing or capable of producing desired result. For instance, “The new mosquito repellant proved to be very effective against dengue.” This sentence clearly shows the ability of the repellant to produce desired result and is hence effective.
‘Affective’ derives its origin from the word ‘affect’, which means "to have an effect upon". Usually used as a verb, it often refers to an impact imposed by a person or thing. For example, “The advice of his father was affective to change his ways”. This sentence stresses at the ability of the father to influence his son. Therefore, the father is an affective person.

Examples

“The pain killer was not so effective against my knee pain!"
"The salesperson was affective enough to win the buyer’s confidence".
"His advice was very effective to our upcoming business proposal?"
"His speech was so affective that he couldn’t help thinking about it the whole day!"
“His speech was affective”.
“Effective communication in workplace is a must for career success”.
“Prolonged research enabled him to find effective treatment for the disease”.

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