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I want to say that I continued teaching even though I was sick. So, is the following sentence correct:

Getting sick did not affect my passion to teach.

"affect my passion" is correct?

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    It is perfectly grammatical though more idiomatically American than British. Personally I would have said Becoming sick did not affect.... We tend not to get ill, get happy, get convinced etc; but become all those things. Though we do get well and get angry as well as becoming such things. – WS2 Jan 27 '16 at 12:56
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I prefer your first sentence; it's simple, short, idiomatic, and grammatical. The “even though” adds a stoic note. It is a prepositional phrase that introduces a fact that is surprising and/or new to the listener or reader. The phrase connects the two clauses together very naturally.

I continued teaching even though I was sick.

But if the OP is looking for something more formal:

  1. My becoming sick had no consequences on my teaching.
  2. My ability to teach was not affected by my illness.
  3. Despite my illness, my passion for teaching was unaffected.

Something less formal...

  1. I got sick but the show must go on.
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It's certainly fine to say this, as it correctly conveys that your passion to teach wasn't affected by getting sick, but using "affect" is somewhat neutral as it could mean positively or negatively. If you wanted to make it clearer that your passion to teach was just as strong, I would perhaps say something more like

Getting sick did not diminish my passion for teaching.

Or

Getting sick did not negatively impact my passion for teaching.

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  • Impact, as a verb? Ew. – Ricky Jan 27 '16 at 14:12
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    The Oxford dictionary defines impact as both a noun and a verb. Do you have a particular problem with the latter which would prevent it being used this way? – John Clifford Jan 27 '16 at 14:17
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    Yeah, I do. The old dictionary has become much too lenient for its own good, pandering to whoever. There's something perverse about using certain nouns as verbs. Interface, impact, all those. Mid-echelon suits trying to sound important. – Ricky Jan 27 '16 at 14:23
  • I actually agree with you on the first point, but I don't think using impact as a verb is as bad as some of the others. Interface is definitely one that should stay as a noun, though. – John Clifford Jan 27 '16 at 14:26
  • My personal favorite is "eyeball." As a verb. People who talk like that have no use for finer things in life. – Ricky Jan 27 '16 at 14:41
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A better way of saying it would be:

Getting sick does not affect my passion for teaching.

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The questioner states

I want to say that I continued teaching even though I was sick.

Having a passion for teaching doesn't necessarily mean that the person actually continued to teach, only that they were passionate about the job. I would suggest that a better way of expressing this would be to say

My illness did not prevent my continuing to teach.

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