Pat, "affect" and "effect" can both be verbs or nouns, depending upon how they are used in the sentence--classifications of that sort, which are very important in case-based languages (Latin, and many other European languages) are almost irrelevant in syntax-based languages like English (and Chinese). The emphasis on classifications of words in English is a hangover from the days when "language education" meant primarily education in Latin (and Greek)--until about the mid-19th century, the admissions test for going to most colleges was the ability to read and write Latin and read Greek. Since "case" in English is derived from how the word is used in the sentence, and not from the form of the word itself, modern study (since the mid-1970s) of English as a language bypasses case and goes straight to the issues of syntax (word order) itself.
Having said all that, I still should have said "effect," not "affect," because that word contained the meaning I intended in the context of that particular sentence. When I don't proofread carefully, I tend to confuse these two--have done so most of my life. Some kind of psychological block, I suppose, since I've been conscious of my tendency for 35 years.
By the way, "affect" and "effect" are not homonyms in my pronunciation--I produce the "a" I little further back and lower in my mouth {closer to the "ah" sound, but shorter) than I do the mid-neutral vowel sound I use for the unstressed "e"--but I have no doubt that they are for some people.
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