
‘It had a detrimental impact/effect ON …’
These two synonyms take certain collocations depending on:
1. SIZE
- big, considerable, dramatic, enormous, great, high, huge, important, main, major, massive, powerful, profound, real, significant, strong, substantial, tremendous
- limited, marginal, minimal/minimum, negligible
- overall
- growing, increasing
- disproportionate/uneven
e.g. the uneven impact of the debt crisis on developing countries
2. TYPE
- combined, cumulative
e.g. considering the cumulative impact of a series of damaging events
- decisive | direct
e.g. The railways had a direct physical impact on the landscape.
3. TIME
- immediate, instant | initial, short-term
- lasting, long-term | far-reaching, wider
e.g. It is important to appreciate the wider impact and implications of this proposal.
- future, likely, possible, potential
4. Positive/Negative
- beneficial, favourable, positive
- adverse, catastrophic, damaging, devastating, disastrous, heavy, negative, serious, severe
5. The ‘discussion clock/thinking tree’ types
- human The severest human impact on the dolphins has been the loss of habitat.
- personal The personal impact of party leaders has been very important.
- physical, visual seeking to reduce the visual impact of wind farms on the landscape
- cultural, ecological, economic, emotional, environmental, financial, health, political, psychological, social
e.g. The environmental impact of power generation is being assessed.
You can say ‘optimistic/pessimistic impact/effect’ but I would avoid it.
It can be used in very limited situations:
https://ludwig.guru/s/optimistic+impact (only one example)
https://ludwig.guru/s/pessimistic+effect
TOP TIPS
1. Use ‘have’ as the verb. Stay safe – there are options (see below) but they have different meanings in different contexts.
2. I recommend using singular ‘have an impact’ rather than plural ‘have impacts’. Although both are correct, the singular version is the most common and ‘acceptable’.
Other verbs which collocate with impact:
- achieve, create, exert, make Variations in the interest rate will have an impact on the whole housing market. You certainly made a big impact on Carter.
- feel The initial impact of the reforms will be felt most keenly in primary schools.
- analyse, assess, consider, evaluate, examine, explore, judge, measure, monitor, study It is difficult to judge the likely impact of the changes on employment patterns.
- enhance, increase, maximize, alleviate, cushion, lessen, minimize, reduce, soften We are trying to minimize the impact of price rises on our customers.
- diminish, lessen, reduce, weaken Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat.
- lose When peace returned, the hardline message lost much of its impact.
- resist, withstand This section explores how mothers resist the impact of poverty on the health of their children.
- be concerned about | appreciate | highlight | address | predict | reflect Architecturally, these churches reflected the impact of the Renaissance.
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