Which to use
“which” is an adjective and “witch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,911
- “which” frequency rank
- #44,267
- “witch” frequency rank
- 63178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | which | witch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quel, quelle. Note d’usage : Utilisé quand il y a un choix à faire. Pour demander une réponse libre, on utilise what. | Sorcière. |
Same sound, different letters: which vs witch
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - which / witch
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: which and witch carry the same recorded pronunciation, \wɪt͡ʃ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
which is recorded at frequency rank #18,911, classified as anadj, pronounced \wɪt͡ʃ\. witch is at rank #44,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈwɪt͡ʃ\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 63178, this pair ranks #83,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of which vs witch
Shared letters: chiw. Private to "which": -. Private to "witch": t.
"which" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "witch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "which" for "witch" ever safe?
Frequency check: "which" vs "witch" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "which" / "witch". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "which" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "witch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #83,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "which" and "witch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wick vs witch". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #83,351 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.