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Ways to Say Affect

Twelve ways of saying that one thing changes another — affect, influence, have an impact on, shape, alter, contribute to, be instrumental in, leave a mark on and more. Each card pins down what makes that one different: how strong it is, how formal, what pattern follows it and which adjectives it takes. The pack text uses all twelve in one story and then compares them side by side. B2-C1, for IELTS Task 2 and any cause-and-effect writing.

English12 wordswith a textB2IELTScause and effectsynonymswritingmade by a person
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How One Thing Changes Another

Nothing in a person's life stands on its own. The weather our mood, music our emotions, and social media the teenagers who grow up with it. Lack of sleep health, and the early years at home a character that school can only partly later on.

Technology shows this best. The internet has the way we communicate: it did not adjust a detail, it made a different world. Cheap flights, streaming services and messaging apps all the same shift, and not one of them is the single cause of it. Education, meanwhile, social mobility — one factor among many, but a decisive one. Now and then a single person the change: a young lawyer rewriting a law that had stood for a century. And even without such power, a volunteer who visits the same family every week to the way that family lives.

Not every trace is a happy one. A war a whole generation, and the traces can still be read in the way its children speak about safety and money.

Choosing the right one. The twelve expressions are not interchangeable. is the plain verb for producing a change; is slower and works through example or authority, which is why people people. The two noun phrases differ in strength and in the adjectives they take: an effect is usually called positive, negative or adverse, while an impact is huge, major or profound. and both look at the result — gives something its lasting character, leaves it unrecognisable — whereas touches only a part of it. and are the modest ones: they admit that other causes exist, and the second is normally scaled with key, crucial or minor. is formal praise for the person who actually brought the change about, is warm and everyday, and is what we say about experiences that are still felt years later.

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Words in the packClick a word – the card opens in full.
affect[əˈfekt]
to produce a change in somebody or something — the plainest, most general verb for this idea [+ smth]
ExamplesThe weather affects my mood.
Word tagsverbcause and effectB1
influence[ˈɪnfluəns]
to change gradually how somebody thinks or acts, or how something develops, through example, authority or presence rather than direct action [+ smth]
ExamplesMusic influences our emotions.
Word tagsverbcause and effectacademicB2
have an impact on[həv ən ˈɪmpækt ɒn]
the strong one of the two noun phrases: a change big or sudden enough to be noticed at once; goes with huge, major, profound [+ smb/smth]
ExamplesSocial media has a huge impact on teenagers.
Word tagsphrasecollocationcause and effectB2
have an effect on[həv ən ɪˈfekt ɒn]
the neutral one of the two noun phrases: the ordinary, measurable change one thing produces in another; goes with positive, negative, adverse [+ smb/smth]
ExamplesLack of sleep has a negative effect on health.
Word tagsphrasecollocationcause and effectB2
shape[ʃeɪp]
to give somebody or something its lasting character, so that it develops in a particular way — said of childhood, culture, experience [+ smth]
ExamplesEarly experiences shape our personality.
Word tagsverbcause and effectacademicB2
transform[trænsˈfɔːm]
to change something so completely that it is no longer the same in nature or appearance [+ smth]
ExamplesThe internet has transformed the way we communicate.
Word tagsverbchangeB2
alter[ˈɔːltə]
to change one part of something — a detail, a wording, a view — while the thing itself stays what it was; slightly formal [+ smth]
ExamplesThe discovery altered our understanding of history.
Word tagsverbchangeacademicB2
contribute to[kənˈtrɪbjuːt tə]
to be one of several causes that together bring about a result, most often an unwanted one, without being the only reason for it [+ smth]
ExamplesPollution contributes to global warming.
Word tagsphrasecause and effectacademicB2
play a role in[ˌpleɪ ə ˈrəʊl ɪn]
to be one of the factors at work in a process; scaled with key, crucial, major, minor [+ smth]
ExamplesEducation plays a crucial role in social mobility.
Word tagsphrasecollocationcause and effectB2
be instrumental in[bi ˌɪnstrəˈmentl ɪn]
to be the person or thing that actually brought something about; formal and approving, used of reforms and achievements [+ doing smth]
ExamplesShe was instrumental in changing the law.
Word tagsphrasecollocationacademicC1
make a difference[ˌmeɪk ə ˈdɪfrəns]
to change a situation noticeably for the better, especially through one person's own actions [+ to smb/smth]
ExamplesOne person can make a difference.
Word tagsphrasecollocationspeakingB2
leave a mark on[ˌliːv ə ˈmɑːk ɒn]
to produce a lasting trace in somebody or something that is still felt long after the event, usually a painful one [+ smb/smth]
ExamplesThe war left a lasting mark on the generation.
Word tagsphrasecollocationcause and effectC1
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