Wednesday's Words & Woes: Breath, Breathe, Breadth

Good Wednesday morning! It's the middle of the week, Hump Day, and also time for another edition of Words & Woes. 

I was reading another blog a few days ago -- an excellent one -- and the author used breath in a sentence when she obviously meant to use breathe.

These three words are not true homophones, but they're near enough to cause difficulties.

Breath is the air that we take in and expel from our bodies. 

• It's so cold our breath looks like clouds.
• Amy was really out of breath after her race!
• She's like a breath of fresh air, isn't she?
• To relax, take a slow, deep breath.

Breathe is the action we take to move that air: we inhale and exhale. It can also mean exposing something (like wine) to air in order to reach full aroma and flavor. One way to remember breathe (versus breath) is to hear the "e" sound in the word and see it at the end of the word. 

• To relax, we need to breathe slowly and deeply.
• Be sure to let the wine breathe before pouring it.
• While exercising, it's important to learn how to breathe properly.

Breadth has nothing to do with either of the two above, but it can sneak into our writing if we type too fast and hit "d" where we may not mean to. And of course, spellcheck's only job is to check our spelling; it cannot tell us anything about our usage! Since breadth is a perfectly fine word meaning the width of something, the distance between points, or dimensions of something (all of which have a "d" in them), spellcheck will be happy with it! Of course, the writer might not be . . . 

• The length and breadth of that room was amazing!
• John's breadth of knowledge in that field is greater than that of his peers.
• The bay is about a mile in breadth.

I hope this helps, both with these three words and as a reminder to read what we've written before we hit "publish"!

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Posts you may have missed last month
Monday Grammar Checkup: The Continuing Perils of Trusting Spellcheck
Tuesday Tricksters, January 5
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Advice / Advise
Happy Friday to You! 
Monday's Grammar Checkup: Capital Letters
Tuesday Tricksters, January 12 
Wednesday's Word & Woes: Advice & Advise
Friday Fun Food Day, January 15 
Monday's Grammar Checkup: QUIZ on Lie & Lay
Here We Go: Tuesday's Tricksters, January 19
Wednesdays Words & Woes: A Lot, Allot, Alot
Another Friday Funday, January 22
Monday Grammar Checkup: Another American Grammar Quiz!
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Loose & Lose
Oh! Look! It's a Frozen, Fabulous, Friday Funday!

February's Offerings So Far
Grammar Checkup: It's a Numbers Game
Tuesday Tricksters, February 2: Finally Some F Words!ddd
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Their, There, They're   
It's February. It's Freezing. It's Friday Funday!
Grammar Checkup: Pity the Poor Semicolon!
Tuesday Tricksters, February 9
Wednesdays Words & Woes: Peak, Peek, Piqueff
Beyond Grammar: 5 Ways to Make Your Posts Look More Professional
Frozen, Frigid, Friday Fun Day
Silly Sunday: Happy Valentine's Day!
Grammar Checkup: Ellipsis Marks (aka Ellipses) -- Think THREE

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As an international corporate trainer, I have worked worldwide for nearly 20 years creating and leading American grammar (U.S. only), business writing, and a variety of interpersonal communication skills workshops. I am also a copy editor and proofreader, mainly of business-related materials. My home base is in Massachusetts, but I will travel anywhere to help business professionals look and sound as smart as they are.