The birth rates in Europe are so low that there are now more people in Italy over 60 than under the age of 20. Greece, Spain, and Germany will all be in the same boat soon; not enough young people to support the aging population.
The everyday use of âaffectâ is the verb, meaning âto influenceâ (his methods affected me greatly), but it also means âto feignâ (he affected nonchalance). The everyday use of âeffectâ is the noun, meaning âresultâ (the effect of this has been to make him proud) or âinfluenceâ (he has had such an effect on me).
In a nutshell, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. At least (spoiler alert!), most of the time. In the majority of cases, youâll encounter the words as these parts of speech. So, if A affects B, B experiences the effect of Aâs action.