Affect vs Effect

(Before I start this post I have to say thank you to all the congratulation messages I've received after my last post.  Thanks for them all!  I realized on Friday that I did not have to spend my lunch hour doing school work and that I did not have to plan my weekend around doing school work; it was a strange but pleasant feeling!)

I've always struggled with when to use the word "affect" and when to use  "effect".  I would always have to look them up and even then would often be unsure if I was really using the correct word.  The dictionary always explained that one was a noun and the other verb.  While I understand the difference between a noun (person, place or thing) and a verb (action) I was still confused. 

While finishing up my last presentation for school I had the affect/effect dilemma and, as usual, wasn't sure which one was correct.  This time I searched on the internet for help and I found an answer that triggered an easy way for me to remember.  So easy that I wondered why this never clicked with me before, but then again we sometimes miss those easy things when we try to make it hard!

Here is the explanation:

Affect is the verb and it means to cause a change (also, to influence or to pretend).
Effect is the noun and it shows the result of something that happened.

Here is how to remember which one is correct:

Affect = cause

Effect = result

And that concludes this little grammar lesson!