Writing Helper: Breath vs. Breathe, Bath vs. Bathe
This is part of the series:
- Grammar Helper
- Grammar Helper: Ensure, Assure, Insure
- Grammar Helper: There, Their, They're
- Grammar Helper: Appraise vs. Apprise
- Grammar Helper: Idea vs. Ideal
- Grammar Helper: Commas in a series
- Grammar Helper: Who and Whom (simple version)
- Grammar Helper: I vs. Me
- Writing Help: Who's vs. Whose
- Writing Helper: Just Thinking to Myself
- Writing Helper: Poor and Pour, Then and Than
- Grammar Helper: Its vs It's
- Writing Helper: Breath vs. Breathe, Bath vs. Bathe
- Cite, sight and site
- Writing Helper: Stationary vs. Stationery
- Writing Helper: Lose vs. Loose
- Avoiding the Passive Voice
- Possessive vs. Plural: Getting it Right
- Writing Helper: A lot
- Writing Helper: Bath vs Bathe
- Writing Helper: Choose vs Chose
- Writing Helper: Idea vs. Ideal
These are some commonly confused words. I rarely hear them mixed up, but I see it in people’s writing all the time.
Breath and Breathe
Breathe is a verb. The ea sounds like eat or easy.
Breath is a noun. Here, the ea sounds like egg or death.
Examples:
He took a slow breath before answering.
She gasped, barely able to breathe.
Bath and Bathe
Bath and Bathe follow the same basic pattern.
Bathe is a verb. The a sounds like able or ate.
Bath is a noun. The a sounds like cat.
Examples:
I want to take a relaxing bubble bath.
Whew! You need to bathe.
I see that a several of the Writing Helper posts remain some of my most popular. Even though they’re short, I’m not surprised. When I taught English, my students usually appreciated this type of lesson much more than standard grammar.
Enjoy!
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