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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