[Grammar] The baby can't breath himself or by himself

[UM Chakma]

Hi,

The baby can't breath himself.
The baby can't breath by himself.

Which one of the two of my examples is correct? I have picked it up from one's thread here. I, sometimes, find difficulty to understand the terms "myself and by myself". In addition, I can see we use like "I will go myself", but mostly I have problem with the term "by myself". I would be grateful if you would clarify it to me with examples.

Thanks.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Neither is correct. The correct verb is "breathe". I would use "by himself". This means he can't do it without help.

"I will go myself" means instead of sending someone else.
"I will go by myself" means alone, without anybody else.

 

[BobK]

:up: And if you write 'breath' but mean the verb, there's a good chance that you say it wrong as well.

breath [noun] -> /e/
breathe [verb] -> /i:/

The difference in vowel length also affects the final consonant: /breθ/ versus /bri:ð/.

b

 

[UM Chakma]

Ops! Sorry, I misspelled it. And of-course I know the difference in pronunciation of the both as well. With Mike's explanation, I could understand it. :up:

 

[BobK]

You may know, but there are other people in this forum.

b