Which or Witch?

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What Is the Difference between "Which" and "Witch"?

"Which" and "witch" are easy to confuse because they sound identical (i.e., they are perfect homonyms). However, their meanings are very different.

• "Which" is used to ask a question or to present additional information. For example:
• Which is best?
• Which team is won?
• They made lasagne, which I love.
• "Witch" is a woman who performs magic with spells and potions. For example:
• A witches is commonly portrayed to have wrinkled skin, pimples, and pointy hats.

Which

"Which" is used to request specifying information (i.e., to ask a question) or to give specifying information.

(When "which" is used to ask a question, it will be an interrogative pronoun or an interrogative determiner. When it is used to give information, it will be a relative pronoun.)

Example sentences with "which":

• Which are acceptable?
(Here, "which" is an interrogative pronoun.)
• Which country held last year's contest?
(Here, "which" is an interrogative adjective that modifies "country.")
• The front wheel fell off Paul's new car, which he was driving at the time.
(Here, "which" is being used as a relative pronoun.)
• Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces. (Julius Caesar)
(Here, "which" is being used as a relative pronoun.)

The big question with "which" is whether to precede it with a comma or not. Read more about using commas with which.

Witch

"Witch" means a woman who performs magic using spells, potions, and the invocation of spirits.

("Witch" is a noun.)

Example sentences with "witch":

• Probably the most obvious characteristic of a witch is the ability to cast a spell.
• From 1645–1663, about eighty people throughout England's Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of being witches.

Ways to Remember

Only a "witch" can get an "itch."

Wh-Pronouns

"Which" is one of the wh-pronouns. The wh-pronouns are either interrogative pronouns or relative pronouns. Other common ones are:

• what
• where
• when
• who
• whom
• whose

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