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.
Nothing in a person's life stands on its own. The weather affects our mood, music influences our emotions, and social media {has a huge impact on}={have an impact on} the teenagers who grow up with it. Lack of sleep {has a negative effect on}={have an effect on} health, and the early years at home shape a character that school can only partly alter later on.
Technology shows this best. The internet has transformed the way we communicate: it did not adjust a detail, it made a different world. Cheap flights, streaming services and messaging apps all contribute to the same shift, and not one of them is the single cause of it. Education, meanwhile, {plays a crucial role in}={play a role in} social mobility — one factor among many, but a decisive one. Now and then a single person {is instrumental in}={be instrumental in} the change: a young lawyer {was instrumental in}={be instrumental in} rewriting a law that had stood for a century. And even without such power, a volunteer who visits the same family every week {makes a difference}={make a difference} to the way that family lives.
Not every trace is a happy one. A war {leaves a mark on}={leave a mark on} 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. Affect is the plain verb for producing a change; influence is slower and works through example or authority, which is why people influence 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. Shape and transform both look at the result — shape gives something its lasting character, transform leaves it unrecognisable — whereas alter touches only a part of it. Contribute to and play a role in are the modest ones: they admit that other causes exist, and the second is normally scaled with key, crucial or minor. Be instrumental in is formal praise for the person who actually brought the change about, make a difference is warm and everyday, and leave a mark on is what we say about experiences that are still felt years later.
to produce a change in somebody or something — the plainest, most general verb for this idea [+ smth]
to change gradually how somebody thinks or acts, or how something develops, through example, authority or presence rather than direct action [+ smth]
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]
the neutral one of the two noun phrases: the ordinary, measurable change one thing produces in another; goes with positive, negative, adverse [+ smb/smth]
to give somebody or something its lasting character, so that it develops in a particular way — said of childhood, culture, experience [+ smth]
to change something so completely that it is no longer the same in nature or appearance [+ smth]
to change one part of something — a detail, a wording, a view — while the thing itself stays what it was; slightly formal [+ smth]
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]
to be one of the factors at work in a process; scaled with key, crucial, major, minor [+ smth]
to be the person or thing that actually brought something about; formal and approving, used of reforms and achievements [+ doing smth]
to change a situation noticeably for the better, especially through one person's own actions [+ to smb/smth]
to produce a lasting trace in somebody or something that is still felt long after the event, usually a painful one [+ smb/smth]
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