Answer: "Breath" vs. "Breathe"
Sorry for the late post, everyone! I hope you all had a fun and/or restful Memorial Day.
We were asked, What is the difference between breath and breathe?
With examples from House, Law & Order: SVU, and Stargate: SG-1.
The bad news: A small mistake like this one can ruin your story for the attentive, grammar-knowledgeable reader.
The good news: A small mistake like this one is easy to fix.
The only grammatical difference between breath and breathe is part of speech.
Breath is always a noun. It's a thing.
House heard a sharp intake of breath behind him and knew he was about to be treated to a classic Wilson morality lecture.
It is not possible for you (or a character) to breath. It's not something you can do.
Breathe is something you can do. It's always a verb.
"Breathe," said Detective Benson. "We don't have much time, but I need you to relax so you can tell me what happened."
"He can't talk to you if he can't breathe!" cried Dr. Cameron. "Let us fix the problem we know exists before you go interrogating him about the ones you only think he might have."
You (or your character) can't take a breathe. You can take a breather or a breath.
You probably know the difference between these two words in speech, so it's spelling that's the problem. Remember:
Breath, with no "e," rhymes with "Seth," "meth" (as in methamphetamines) and "death."
Breathe, with an "e," rhymes with "seethe"…and not much else that I can think of.
Sometimes the spellings of plurals and persons can be confusing.
The plural of breath is breaths, and
The present tense verb to breathe is conjugated thus:
I breathe,
You breathe,
He, She, or It breathes,
We breathe,
Y'all breathe, and
They breathe.
A final example:
"I can barely breathe under all this weight!" whined Vala, tugging at her field pack straps.
"Maybe you should have left the leather corset at home, then," said Daniel. He was short of breath, too, but for entirely different reasons that he was not about to admit to Vala.
We were asked, What is the difference between breath and breathe?
With examples from House, Law & Order: SVU, and Stargate: SG-1.
The bad news: A small mistake like this one can ruin your story for the attentive, grammar-knowledgeable reader.
The good news: A small mistake like this one is easy to fix.
The only grammatical difference between breath and breathe is part of speech.
Breath is always a noun. It's a thing.
House heard a sharp intake of breath behind him and knew he was about to be treated to a classic Wilson morality lecture.
It is not possible for you (or a character) to breath. It's not something you can do.
Breathe is something you can do. It's always a verb.
"Breathe," said Detective Benson. "We don't have much time, but I need you to relax so you can tell me what happened."
"He can't talk to you if he can't breathe!" cried Dr. Cameron. "Let us fix the problem we know exists before you go interrogating him about the ones you only think he might have."
You (or your character) can't take a breathe. You can take a breather or a breath.
You probably know the difference between these two words in speech, so it's spelling that's the problem. Remember:
Breath, with no "e," rhymes with "Seth," "meth" (as in methamphetamines) and "death."
Breathe, with an "e," rhymes with "seethe"…and not much else that I can think of.
Sometimes the spellings of plurals and persons can be confusing.
The plural of breath is breaths, and
The present tense verb to breathe is conjugated thus:
I breathe,
You breathe,
He, She, or It breathes,
We breathe,
Y'all breathe, and
They breathe.
A final example:
"I can barely breathe under all this weight!" whined Vala, tugging at her field pack straps.
"Maybe you should have left the leather corset at home, then," said Daniel. He was short of breath, too, but for entirely different reasons that he was not about to admit to Vala.