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"to affect" in seven languages

Meaningto affect

Spanish

afectar

/afekˈtaɾ/

learned

French

affecter

/afɛkte/

learned

Toucher is just as common: la grève a touché des milliers de voyageurs.

Italian

colpire

/kolˈpire/

other source · Italian colpo 'blow' (Latin COLAPHUS, from Greek)

Italian affettare means 'to slice' or 'to feign', not 'to affect'.

Portuguese

afetar

/afeˈtah/

learned

Romanian

afecta

/afekˈta/

learned

Catalan

afectar

/əfəkˈta/

learned

English

affect

/əˈfɛkt/

from Latin/French · Latin AFFECTĀRE, partly via French affecter

English → Italianto affectcolpireNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: affection, effect, infect.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

AFFECTĀRE‘to strive for, aim at’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Spanish and French use the learned verb as English does; Italian says something 'hits' (colpisce) a person or place.

English relatives: affection, effect, infect

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esLa huelga afectó a miles de viajeros.
  • frLa grève a affecté des milliers de voyageurs.
  • itLo sciopero ha colpito migliaia di viaggiatori.
  • ptA greve afetou milhares de passageiros.
  • roGreva a afectat mii de călători.
  • caLa vaga va afectar milers de viatgers.
  • enThe strike affected thousands of travellers.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words