Pat, a lot of people have trouble with effect and affect. The easy way to remember is that affect is a verb and effect is a noun.
That only helps people who understand the difference between nouns and verbs. 
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I’m sorry, I just assumed that most people at least graduated from high school. But, we got the verb, noun thing in elementary school.
I remember in junior high we had to diagram sentences and again in high school, my 10th grade English teacher, Mrs. Cowsar, was a fanatic about it and I wondered why I would ever need to diagram a sentence. Yet all through my work years, when I would write something for business, I would check my grammar and mentally diagram sentences. Maybe Mrs. Cowsar was more of a blessing than a curse. Looking back, she ended up being one of my favorite teachers.
Your assuming a lot based upon what many of the schools teach now. That should be on the tests, but if it is not, then not a focus for the classroom.
THANKS - one less thing to “drive me nuts” now!
Mike, your story about Mrs. Cowsar is my story exactly, but my teacher was Mrs. Allen. I went to school in Anderson, Texas, except that my Mom and I moved to Houston after my father died, and I graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School.
But - back in Anderson, we had just one teacher who taught every subject until we got into High School for the last 4 years. The first year that we had Mrs. Allen was when we were in the 4th grade, and we all hated her because she was so demanding. We all looked forward to the end of the year, when we would get promoted to the next grade and have a new teacher. At the end of the year, the school moved Mrs. Allen to the 5th grade; then the next year they moved her to the 6th grade, and then the 7th grade. We ended up having her for 4 years!
That lady taught all the state curriculum, but that was not good enough for Mrs. Allen; she had her own curriculum! She loved history, and she made sure we studied it. Boy, did she ever? We studied current events like you would not believe; we had to hand in a report every Friday on something we had read in the newspaper. And we studied Roman history, British history, European history, American history, Texas history. By the time I got to High School, I think I knew more history than most college history graduates today!
Heck, I sometimes think they should just close the public schools today; they are really just functioning baby sitters and are doing more harm than good. The kids come out of High School, and - being teenagers - they THINK they know everything. They really know NOTHING; some of them cannot even write their names!
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Eatumup, when did you graduate Stephen F Austin?
Well he’s 93. Take it from there!!
If I ever have to diagram a sentence again, it will be too soon. 
To be fair, the effect/affect problem isn’t solved by a noun/verb determination, since both can be a verb, but only one can be a noun.
English is butchered in so many ways every day - this one pales compared to the too/to, it’s/its and your/you’re abominations.
When I took Technical Writing at UH, one of our textbooks had a list of misused words including the previously mentioned and two that were emphasized were eager and anxious; anxious being worry or anticipation accompanied with worry and eager merely looking forward to something or wanting to do something very much. The instructor said those two were his pet peave. Funny how certain things stick with you after all those years.
There you go. Effect.
#GoCoogs!
Well, that didn’t last long - the error is back in all its glory!
What in the Sam Hill is going on here. !!
Trying again. Just discovered I could change topic titles. I must be important!!!
Or just hang around here too much.
Seems to revert to original wording after 24 or possibly at midnight even though I edited and saved it. Humm.
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red80,
Effect can also be a verb meaning “to bring about,” or “to accomplish.”
See here:
Maybe so, but not when I was studying English! This definition of “effect” is probably a later way of accepting a common error [repeat an error often and long enough, and it becomes acceptable!]. So, why should there even be two words?
Sorry - I don’t accept!
The verb “to effect” with an “e” has a special meaning to me because I corrected a Master’s thesis of mine using that word.
True story!