{"id":199,"date":"2014-08-23T14:45:14","date_gmt":"2014-08-23T18:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/?p=199"},"modified":"2014-08-23T14:45:14","modified_gmt":"2014-08-23T18:45:14","slug":"break-vs-brake-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference","title":{"rendered":"Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"bccef0f480416e3e00e77029789ea906\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: right; margin:10px 0 10px 10px;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Beginning of Post Default -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6482188744286371\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7571860708\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<\/div>\n<p>In English, there are countless words that sound exactly the same when you read them out loud but turn out to have completely different meanings. The <a href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/grammar-dictionary\">grammatical term<\/a> for words like these is <em><a href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/homonyms-and-homophones\">homophone<\/a><\/em><strong>. <\/strong>This means they sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Break vs. brake is an example of a set of homophones.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">What is the Difference Between Break and Brake?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Since these words are so close in their spelling\u2014and identical in their pronunciation\u2014it\u2019s that much more important to keep track of them and not mix them up. In today\u2019s post, I want to go over the definitions of these two words, what separates them from each other, and give you a few tips to remember their difference.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">When to Use Break<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-692 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Brake-or-break.png\" alt=\"is-it-Brake-or-break\" width=\"311\" height=\"90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Brake-or-break.png 311w, https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Brake-or-break-300x86.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/>Break can be used as a verb and a noun, and as a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/grammar-dictionary\/verb\">verb<\/a>, <em>break<\/em> can be both <a href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/grammar-dictionary\/transitive-intransitive-verbs\">transitive and intransitive<\/a>. This means that sometimes <em>break <\/em>will take an object and sometimes it won\u2019t. For example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t trust him; he will break your heart.<\/li>\n<li>My arm broke from the fall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first sentence, <em>break <\/em>is being used as a transitive verb and takes the <a href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/grammar-dictionary\/object\">object<\/a> <em>heart<\/em>. In the second sentence, <em>break <\/em>is being used as an intransitive verb and doesn\u2019t need an object.<\/p>\n<p>The verb <em>to break<\/em> has many different meanings in both forms, but most of them focus around one central meaning: an interruption of continuity such as <em>to cause to separate into pieces suddenly or violently; to snap off or detach; to crack with separating into piece<\/em>. For example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She broke the glass. (transitive)<\/li>\n<li>The toy broke due to its cheap construction. (intransitive)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Break can also be used as a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/grammar-dictionary\/noun\">noun<\/a>, meaning <em>an act or action of breaking<\/em>. For example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We\u2019ve been working all day. When can we expect a break?<\/li>\n<li>There was a break in the dam.<\/li>\n<li>Everyday basketball game has one halftime break.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">When to Use Brake<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Brake can be used as a verb and a noun also. The most common usage of <em>brake <\/em>is when referring to your car. The device used to stop your car from a moving position is a brake and when you use it to stop your car, it is called <em>braking<\/em>. For example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t forget to apply the parking brake. (noun)<\/li>\n<li>Another driver cut me off and I had to brake suddenly. (verb)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Brake also has a few specialized meanings that are very rare in modern usage.<\/p>\n<p>In the middle ages, a brake was a toothed instrument used for separating out the fiber of flax or hemp, and modern day factories have a machine called a brake that is used for bending, folding, and flanging sheet metal.<\/p>\n<p>These are both technical uses, however, and you will very rarely find yourself using them.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Remember the Difference<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A good trick to remember the difference between these words is to think of <em>break <\/em>as <em>breakfast<\/em>. You take a <em>break <\/em>to have <em>breakfast. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you can remember this, you will be able to keep it separated from <em>brake. <\/em><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>These two words have different meanings so it\u2019s important to keep brake vs. break apart.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Break <\/strong>can be a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means <em>to shatter, to crack, to make unusable.<\/em> As a noun, it means <em>an action or action of breaking<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brake <\/strong>can also be used as a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means <em>to use the brakes on a vehicle<\/em>. As a noun, it refers to the mechanical device used to stop cars while moving.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In English, there are countless words that sound exactly the same when you read them out loud but turn out to have completely different meanings. The grammatical term for words like these is homophone. This means they sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Break vs. brake is an example of a &#8230; <a title=\"Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\" aria-label=\"Read more about Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_aToxMjE2OTc5NDg2Ow==_1216979486":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference? - Writing Explained<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the definition of brake and break with example sentences and quizzes at Writing Explained.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference? - Writing Explained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn the definition of brake and break with example sentences and quizzes at Writing Explained.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Writing Explained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WritingExplained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-23T18:45:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Brake-or-break.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/#\/schema\/person\/82785176f927165d5b88cbe6f80d7bc1\"},\"headline\":\"Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-23T18:45:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\"},\"wordCount\":603,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Brake-or-break.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writingexplained.org\/break-vs-brake-difference\",\"name\":\"Break vs. Brake: What\u2019s the Difference? 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