Although CH is normally pronounced like the ch- in “chance” and -tch in “batch”, it sometimes has different pronunciations, including the ch- in “chaos” being the same k sound as the c- in “care” and the -ck in “black”. Like this example, most of those words come from Greek, something that is sometimes shown by sharing topics with other Greek vocabulary such as things linked to science, medicine, psychology, philosophy and logic, religion, fields of academic study, music, and other arts. Although most such words are very high level, this page gives suitable words to learn and teach this point at all levels from A1 to C1/C2.
Elementary words with ch pronounced k
- (head/ stomach/ back)ache
- character
- Chris
- Christmas
- mechanic
- Michael
- Nicholas
- school
- technology
Pre-intermediate words with ch pronounced k
- (news) anchor
- chemist
- choir
- cholesterol
- chorus
- Christian
- Czech
- orchestra
- psychiatrist
- psychologist
- stomach
Intermediate words with ch pronounced k
- architect
- charismatic
- choreographer
- christening
- Christopher
- echo
- mechanical
- mocha
- psychic
- tech
- zucchini
Upper-intermediate words with ch pronounced k
- archaeologist
- anarchy
- archive
- chameleon
- characteristic
- chemical
- chemotherapy
- chiropractor
- chlorine
- chord
- chronological
- hierarchy
- masochistic
- mechanism
- melancholy
- monarch
- orchid
- psycho
- scheme
- scholar
- synchronise
Advanced words with ch pronounced k
- alchemist
- anachronism
- archaic
- archangel
- archetype
- bronchitis
- chasm
- chloroform
- chromosome
- chronic
- dichotomy
- epoch
- hypochondria
- leprechaun
- Mach
- matriarch
- monochrome
- oligarch
- parochial
- patriarch
- psyche
- schematic
- scherzo
- schizophrenia
- schooner
