Whose
Whose is a wh-word. We use whose to ask questions and to introduce relative clauses.
Whose as a question word
We use whose to ask a question about possession: Whose birthday is it today?
Whose house was used in the film ‘Gosford Park’?
Whose are these gloves?
We use whose in indirect questions: Juliet wondered whose the sports car was.
Warning:
Don’t confuse whose and who’s. Who’s means who is: Whose book is this? (Who does this book belong to?)
Who’s driving us home? (Who is driving us home?)
Whose in relative clauses
We use whose to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people, animals and things: John works with that other chap whose name I can’t remember.
Shirley has a 17-year-old daughter whose ambition is to be a photographer.
This is the book whose title I couldn’t remember.
Typical error
We don’t use whose when we mean who’s (who is)
Who’s there?
Not: Whose there?
Whose little brother is he?
Not: Who’s little brother is he?
See also:
Relative clauses
Questions: interrogative pronouns (what, who)
Indirect speech: reporting questions
Relative pronoun: whose
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