Difference Between Breath and Breathe

Breath vs Breathe
 

The basic difference between breath and breathe is that one is a noun and the other is a verb. However, the two words, breath and breathe, are often confused possibly due to their pronunciation. Strictly speaking, they are to be understood differently. The word breath is used as a noun. On the other hand, the word breathe is used as a verb. This is the main difference between the two words. The word breath is used in the sense of ‘breathing in or breathing out’. In other words, breath means ‘inhalation or exhalation.’ On the other hand, the word breathe is used in the sense of ‘take air into the lungs and then let it out.’ In other words, breathe means inhale and exhale.

What does Breath mean?

The word breath is used in the sense of air inhaled or exhaled during respiration. In other words, breath means, according to the Oxford English dictionary, ‘air taken into or expelled from the lungs.’ Observe the two sentences given below.

He was gasping for breath.

He took a deep breath.

In both the sentences, the word breath is used in the sense of air taken into or expelled from the lungs. Hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘he was gasping for air to breathe’. The meaning of the second sentence would be ‘he took lungful of air’.

The word breath is used in the sense of ‘air emitted or exhaled from the mouth’ too as in the sentence ‘good tooth paste arrests bad breath’. In this sentence you can see that the word ‘breath’ is used in the sense of ‘air emitted from the mouth’ and hence the meaning of the sentence would be ‘good tooth paste arrests bad odour of the air emitted from the mouth’. It is interesting to note that, in Old English, the word breath is also used in the sense of smell or scent. There are even idioms that use the word breath such as in the same breath (in the same statement), out of breath ( gasping for air) and hold your breath (stop breathing temporarily).

What does Breathe mean?

The word breathe is used in the sense of ‘take air into the lungs and then let it out.’ In other words, it means inhale and exhale. Observe the two sentences given below.

He was breathing normally in the morning.

She is finding it difficult to breathe.

In both the sentences, you can see that the word breathe is used in the sense of ‘take air into the lungs and then let it out’ and hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘he was taking air in and then letting it out (or inhaling and exhaling) normally in the morning’ and the meaning of the second sentence would be ‘she is finding it difficult to take air in and out’.

It is important to know that the word breathe is sometimes used with the expression ‘his/her last’, and it gives the meaning of ‘die’ as in the sentence ‘she breathed her last in 2002’. In this sentence, the word ‘breathed her last’ is used in the sense of ‘die’ and hence, the meaning of the sentence would be ‘she died in 2002’.

It is interesting to note that the word breathe is used occasionally in the sense of ‘take rest’ as in the sentence ‘I found no time to breathe’. These are the important differences between the two words, namely, breath and breathe. The word breathe is occasionally used with prepositions such as ‘out’ ‘in’ and ‘for’ too to give different meanings.

What is the difference between Breath and Breathe?

• The word breath is used as noun.

• On the other hand, the word breathe is used as verb. This is the main difference between the two words.

• The word breath is used in the sense of ‘air taken in and out during breathing’.

• On the other hand, the word breathe is used in the sense of ‘take air into the lungs and then let it out’.

• The word breathe is sometimes used with the expression ‘his/her last’, and it gives the meaning of ‘die.’ This is used for both breath and breathe. His last breath, breathed her last.

• Breathe is used occasionally in the sense of ‘take rest.’ Same thing here, take a breath and come means take rest. No time to breathe means no time to rest.

• Word breathe is occasionally used with prepositions such as ‘out’ ‘in’ and ‘for’ too to give different meanings.

• The word breath is used in the sense of ‘mouthful of air’ too.

These are the differences between the two words, breath and breathe.

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