Breathe vs Breath
Breathe and Breath are in the same word family – one is a verb and one is a noun. Breathe is the action of inhaling and exhaling, while breath is the air you inhale and exhale. However, when it comes to spelling, that’s where things can get confusing. Remember the rule that a final -e at the end of a word makes the vowel long? Normally, this rule applies to words ending with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern: mat – mate, prim – prime, fin – fine. But as a tip to help you remember, think of the final -e in breathe as making the vowel sound long. Breath is pronounced /breth/ (with a -th sound like “think”), while Breathe is pronounced /breeth/ (with a -th sound like “they”).
Here are some definitions and examples to help make the use of these words clearer.
Breathe (verb)
The action of inhaling and exhaling.
Examples:
Take a moment to breathe when you start to feel stressed out.
When people watch a scary movie, they will sometimes forget to breathe!
In the example sentences above, the word breathe is a verb. It shows the action of inhaling and exhaling. Or, as in the second sentence, when people are so scared that they don’t inhale and exhale!
Breath (noun)
The air inhaled and exhaled.
Examples:
In yoga, instructors often remind their students to take deep breaths.
My sister just started exercising and says she’s often out of breath.
In these example sentences, the word breath is the noun of the sentence. In the first example, the yoga instructor tells students to take a lot of air in, on the inhale, and let a lot of air out, on the exhale. In the second example, when someone first starts exercising, they might feel like there isn’t enough air for them to inhale and exhale.
Main Points
- Breathe and Breath are in the same word family.
- Breathe is a verb that means to inhale and exhale.
- Breath is a noun that means the air inhaled and exhaled.
- To remember the spelling, think of the final -e in Breathe as making the vowel sounds long.