Breath vs. breathe
Monday, March 15th, 2010You’d think that since we all do it every day — day in and day out — hundreds upon hundreds of times each day, we’d all know how to spell it. It’s only one syllable, after all. How hard could it be?
Go on; spell it. Spell that thing you do — the one that keeps you alive, pushes air in (and out) of your lungs, gets you all hot and bothered when the right person does it on the back of your neck, makes you happy to get flowers or be next to the oven when the bread comes out or makes you wish the dog (yeah, the dog; blame it on the dog) hadn’t eaten whatever he ate.
Good. Thanks for playing along.
So — which camp are you in? The breath camp or the breathe camp?
This bad boy's breath isn't the only reason it's a good idea not to get too close (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fpat/3326415463)
From what I can tell, the camps are divided pretty evenly. But the thing is, only one camp should stake its flag.
Breathe (a verb) is an action and, thus, the winner — it’s that thing you do. We breathe air.
Breath (a noun) is a thing, not an action — it’s that thing you have. We take a breath (take is the verb and breath is the noun).
The two can even hang out in the same sentence:
- I breathe by taking a breath.
- She breathed in just as bad-breath Jones breathed out; the experience left her breathless.
Hope that, um, clears the air.
Happy trails!
SAK
