One of the most common grammar mistakes that people make is confusing two words which sound the same, yet possess different meanings and cannot be substituted for one another. One example of this is the dilemma of whether to use the word "affective" as opposed to the word "effective."
The easiest way to differentiate these two words is to look at the root of each word. The root of .
"affective" is "affect," which means to influence someone or something, such as a person's emotions. The following is a correct example of how to use the word affective: "What the teacher told the troubled student was affective enough to make him change his behavior."
The root of "effective" is "effect," which signifies the meaning of an outcome that was caused by another entity. A correct usage of the word effective is as follows: "The levee was effective at preventing flooding."
More Reference Links: http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-affective-and-effective/ http://www.buzzle.com/articles/effective-vs-affective.html
