which

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /wɪt͡ʃ/ UK /wɪt͡ʃ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

witch /wɪtʃ/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like wish /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/ Sounds like whish /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/

Freq #191

Meanings

1

det
Used to ask about a particular one or ones from a known group.

Which song shall we play next?
2

pron
What one or ones of those mentioned.

Here are two pens; which is yours?
3

pron
Used to add extra information about a thing already mentioned.

I dropped the glass, which broke into pieces.
4

pron
Used to identify the particular thing being talked about.

This is the letter which I received yesterday.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms whichever whichsoever

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

every which way
in every direction, often in a scattered or disorderly way

Etymology

From Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz. By surface analysis, who + like. Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).

*kʷ- Proto-Indo-European which Middle English hwelċ Old English *hwilīkaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# which

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** det, pron
**IPA (US):** /wɪt͡ʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /wɪt͡ʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 191

## Meanings
1. Used to ask about a particular one or ones from a known group.
2. What one or ones of those mentioned.
3. Used to add extra information about a thing already mentioned.
4. Used to identify the particular thing being talked about.

## Examples
- Which song shall we play next?
- Here are two pens; which is yours?
- I dropped the glass, which broke into pieces.
- This is the letter which I received yesterday.

## Derived Forms
- whichever
- whichsoever

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kʷ-
- Root: which
- Root: hwelċ
- Root: *hwilīkaz

## Etymology
From Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz. By surface analysis, who + like. Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).

## AI Etymology
Which is from Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz. By surface analysis, who + like. Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”). In present-day use, it can mean used to ask about a particular one or ones from a known group, or what one or ones of those mentioned.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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