EFFECTIVE, EFFECTUAL, EFFICIENT, EFFICACIOUS

INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL

 

Read and translate the following sentences paying special attention to the words in bold type.

1. The production showed what can be done with taut, effective dialogue and performance in the short space of 30 minutes. 2.They will have to decide where it would be most effective to continue the present overtime ban. 3. Martial law was imposed in April, 1971 as the army took effective power. 4. The union’s application could not be effective before December 17. 5. The habiliments of woe could not but serve as an effective disguise to her unexpected feelings. 6. We got rid of some early black fly by spraying with ordinary soapy water — found it more effective than proprietary remedies. 7.But to cherish a secret sorrow is a most effective pose: you can’t think how many sweet young men have wanted to console me. 8. Another cliche from America is intended to cast sudden doubt on the statement the speaker himself has just made, and it is very effective in that it wakens up the listener who has been comfortably nodding agreement all the while. Thus, «That is the end of the story. Or is it?» 9. She brought him a cup of hot coffee — one of her effectual devices for combating his moods of depression. 10. Abraham Lockwood was delighted and proud when George produced schemes to save money or make it; he would overlook the unsuccessful ones and over-praise the effectual. 11. «Our most efficient worker neither drinks nor smokes,» he had said. 12. But the police are very efficient. 13. Examinations are held for a variety of purposes (e.g. testing the students to see if the teaching is efficient). 14. Salvatore and Lena cleared the table and washed the dishes, industrious and grimly efficient as elves. 15. You were very prompt. Very efficient my dear. 16. Mrs Gamp was easily assailable at night by pebbles, walking-sticks, and fragments of tobacco pipe; all much more efficacious than the street-door knocker.

 

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Effective adj. 1. Having an effect; able to bring about the result intended, e.g. ~ measures to cure unemployment, ~ remedies, an ~ effort, an ~ rebuke. 2. Making a striking impression, powerful in effect; impressive; striking, e.g. an ~ scheme of decoration, ~ beginning, an ~ design, ~ style. 3. Active, operative, in effect, e.g. the law became ~ yesterday, ~ date.

Antonym: ineffective adj.

Derivatives: effectively adv., ineffectively adv.

Effectual adj. (not used of persons) Bringing about the. result required; answering its purpose; producing, or capable of producing, the desired effect, e.g. an ~ retort, an ~ reply to smb.’s charge, to take ~ steps; penicillin is ~ in treating some types of pneumonia.

Antonym: ineffectual adj.

Derivatives: effectually adv., ineffectually adv.

Efficient adj. 1. (of persons) Capable, competent; able to perform duties well, e.g. an ~ secretary. 2. Producing an effect or result; producing the desired effect or result with a minimum of effort, expense, or waste, e.g. the ~ cause of smth.; the ~ discharge of the committee’s responsibilities; ~ methods of teaching; ~ ways of doing things.

Antonym: inefficient adj.

Derivatives: efficiently adv., inefficiently adv.

Efficacious adj. (not used of persons) Producing or capable of producing the desired effect or result, e.g. an ~ cure for a disease; quinine is ~ in cases of malaria.

Antonym: inefficacious adj. (rare)

Derivative: efficaciously adv.

Effective, effectual, efficient and efficacious are frequently confused because all mean producing a result or results.

Effective (действительный; эффективный; успешный; действующий, эффектный) emphasizes the actual production of an effect or the power to produce a given effect whenever in active use, exercise, force, or the like.

Effectual (эффективный; целесообразный; достигающий цели) suggests the accomplishment of the result that is desired or the fulfilment of a purpose or intention, so that the term frequently becomes synonymous with decisive, final, and looks backward rather than forward.

Efficient (эффективный; действительный; квалифицированный, умелый, расторопный) applies to that which is actively operative and produces its result through the exercise of energy (as an efficient cause), or, more often in current use, through the exercise of skill, pains, and the like (so that it often becomes synonymous with capable, competent and is applied especially to persons who have given proof of their power or skill).

Efficacious (эффективный) implies the possession of the quality or virtue that gives a thing the power that makes it effective.

Ineffective, ineffectual, inefficient, inefficacious. come into comparison as meaning not producing or incapable of producing a result or results? Except for this, denial of production or capacity for production, these adjectives correspond in their applications and implications to effective, and the others.