Ensuring the effect is not affected

[technical -at- theverbalist -dot- com]

Heya Wr-lers,
So the interview pop quiz got me thinking--I'm pretty sure I know how to
use "that" and "which" properly, which is an accomplishment in itself. And
I almost never forget that it's important to a document and its
credibility not to confuse "it's" and "its". But I can never remember when
to use effect and when to use affect.

I know that effect is nearly always a noun, except when it isn't, and
affect is a verb, except for when it's not. When confronted with one or
the other in a sentence, I can't figure out if the correct word is being
used, or not. I nearly always look up some handy online grammar source,
but sometimes they don't seem to know either: "Usage--The confusion of the
verbs affect and effect is not only quite common but has a long history."

So, does anyone have a good mnemonic or other handy way of remembering
when to use effect and when to use affect?

Hoping to avoid the affect effect...
Mandy

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