Which or Witch?

by Craig Shrives
The Quick Answer
What is the difference between which and witch?

Which is used to request or present specifying information. (It can be used as a pronoun or an adjective.)
  • Which is best?
  • Which team is won?
  • They made lasagne, which is my favorite meal.
The noun witch denotes a woman who performs magic with spells and potions.
  • Witches are commonly portrayed to have wrinkled skin, pimples, and pointy hats.
Got it? Take a quick test.
which or witch?

Which

The word which can be used 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 adjective. When it is used to give information, it will be a relative pronoun.

Examples:
  • 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

The noun witch denotes a woman who performs magic using spells, potions, and the invocation of spirits.

Examples:
  • 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.
Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

Help Us To Improve Grammar Monster

  • Do you disagree with something on this page?
  • Did you spot a typo?
Please tell us using this form.

See Also

adverse or averse? affect or effect? appraise or apprise? avenge or revenge? bare or bear? complement or compliment? dependant or dependent? discreet or discrete? disinterested or uninterested? e.g. or i.e.? envy or jealousy? imply or infer? its or it's? material or materiel? poisonous or venomous? practice or practise? principal or principle? tenant or tenet? who's or whose? What are nouns? What are relative pronouns? What are interrogative pronouns? What are pronous? List of easily confused words