witch · which
witch and which are pronounced exactly the same in American English: /wɪtʃ/. Only the spelling and meaning change.
Exact homophones in American English
witch and which are both pronounced /wɪtʃ/. Older or British pronunciations sometimes keep a breathy “hw” on which, but in General American they sound identical — only the spelling and meaning differ.
noun — a person (in stories) believed to have magic powers — 'a wicked witch' · 'witch hunt' (idiom)
mouth shape
short /ɪ/ — tongue high and forward, mouth nearly closed — like 'bit', 'sit', 'fit'
witch
/wɪtʃ/
vowel length
pronoun — asks for a choice among options — 'which one do you want?' · 'I don’t know which way to go'
mouth shape
identical pronunciation to witch in American English — /wɪtʃ/ — the historical 'wh' /ʍ/ sound has merged into a plain /w/ for almost all speakers
which
/wɪtʃ/
vowel length
plays as: “which one do you want”
Spelling note — the “tch” vs “ch” rule
This pair is a perfect real-world example of the tch/ch spelling rule: witch follows the regular pattern — short vowel + /tʃ/ → “tch”. which is one of the memorized exceptions — same short vowel and sound, but spelled with just “ch”, no t.
See the full tch vs ch rule in Word Lab →Example sentences
witch:“In the story, the witch cast a spell.”
which:“Which bus goes downtown?”
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.
witch
Hear native speakers say “witch” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.
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which
Hear native speakers say “which” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.
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How teachers explain this
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