Breath is a noun and breath is the verb in this pair. To separate them, especially in writing, remember that breath has both /ee/ and . sounds e Final.
Stop. Look around you. Read a usage article.
Usually the English word for an action and the word for performing that action are the same.
Go for a run/I try to run every day
Have a look / Take a look around
When the verb and the noun are the same
Many common noun/verb pairs fit this pattern: walk, talk, sleep, dream, drink, cut, scratch, play, race, smell. This gives a slight advantage to English learners, who can progress quickly through common noun/infinitive pairs.
This idea of symmetry is so ingrained in our minds that new nouns (or new pronunciations) with jargon are often just infinitives used as nouns (a process of called switch function):
That is a big question.
There is a thought.
Send me an invite.
We like our regular verbs.
So much so that, when we invent verbs, they are often in the form of related nouns respectively:
Cat will cat.
Plute will plute.
However, all this noun/verb symmetry tends to give our language a sense of stability and predictability that it might not deserve.
That noun and verb don’t match
For the pairs of exceptions to this pattern, however, there is often a family resemblance between the noun and the corresponding verb—but never enough to confuse them:
think / think
lawsuit / lawsuit
say / say
life / live
flight / fly
Some noun/verb pairs that show similarity may be considered a little too close for comfort, and these can be traps for easily avoidable misspellings. Some of these have at least the same vowel sound:
cover / cover
teeth / teeth
The important thing to remember is that there are more e on verbs. But the traps really seem to be much more commonly used pairs that don’t rhyme like these — where the difference between noun and verb can be easily heard. Including:
shower/bath
breath
‘Breath’ vs ‘Breath’
Breath And breath is perhaps the most complicated intersection of spelling and similarity, as they are often confused. Because of their different vowels, we never use one for the other when speaking, and that’s exactly the problem here: encountering the wrong word on the page or on the screen is jarring because it forcing the reader to think fast. correct sentences, because what we read is not so much misspelled as spelling another part of speech. Maybe we’ll adjust faster with an actual typo.
Because of this, and because we breathe much more often than we do in the shower (or at least use the word more often), this particular confusion is very frequent and very annoying. Remember that the noun breathpronounced /BRETH/, no e Final:
A breath of fresh air
Do not hold your breath
Breathless
Take a deep breath
And the verb breathpronounced /BREETHE/, spelled with a e Final:
Deep breath
I can’t breathe
Breathe in through your nose
Breathe new life into the program
Just remember that breath rhymes with /ee/ and has a e Final.
Then: take a deep breath and relax.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
