patch · batch

patch /pætʃ/ vs batch /bætʃ/ — same vowel /æ/, same -tch ending. The only difference: /p/ (no throat vibration) vs /b/ (feel your throat buzz).

← Back to Sound Gym

Same vowel. Same ending. One consonant apart. patch and batch share the short /æ/ vowel and the /tʃ/ ending. The only difference is p (no throat vibration) vs b (feel your throat buzz).

Voicing test

Put two fingers on your throat and say patch then batch. You should feel a buzz for batch (/b/ is voiced) but not for patch (/p/ is voiceless).

⠿ reorder

noun / verb — a piece of fabric to repair something / a small area / to fix temporarily — 'patch it up' · 'patch of grass'

mouth shape

short /æ/ + /tʃ/ — jaw drops wide for the vowel — like 'cat', 'back', 'catch'

patch

/pætʃ/

vowel length

short /æ/

⠿ reorder

A batch of freshly baked cookies on a tray

noun — a quantity made at one time — 'a batch of cookies' · 'batch processing' · 'the latest batch'

mouth shape

same /æ/ + /tʃ/ — jaw drops wide — identical vowel and ending as patch, just /b/ vs /p/ at the start

batch

/bætʃ/

vowel length

short /æ/

Key difference

patch /p/: both lips press together, then release with a puff of air — no throat buzz. batch /b/: both lips press together, then release — but add a voiced hum. The vowel /æ/ and the ending /tʃ/ are exactly the same.

Example sentences

patch:“She sewed a patch onto her old jeans.”

patch:“We hit a rough patch in our relationship.”

batch:“She baked a fresh batch of muffins.”

batch:“The system processes requests in batch mode overnight.”

Hear it in a sentence

“He sewed a denim patch over the hole in the knee of his jeans.”

“She baked a fresh batch of brownies for the school fair.”

Hear it in the wild

Real speech from native speakers — the most reliable way to check a pronunciation, since automated audio can vary by device and browser.

YouGlish↗

▶