An object pronoun is a type of pronoun thats used as a grammatical object, such as. Grammar nouns, pronouns and determiners question words whose. But they also dreamed up a set of relative pronouns who, whoever, whom, whomever, whose to refer to people. We use whose to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people, animals and things. Answer the questions about yolanda and practise your grammar.
The hardcover of the whos oops whose grammar book is this anyway. After whose we say the object keys, book, house that we want to know the owner of. Whos is a contraction linking the words who is or who has, and whose is the. For example, while you wouldnt say, the book, who is 500 pages, was released in 1923, you could say, the book, whose 500. It is very important, however, for the writer, the student, the job applicant, etc. This is a grammar lesson on the difference between whose and who s. Sure enough, if we look for extraneous words in the sentence and remove them, voila. John works with that other chap whose name i cant remember.
Whose means belonging to whom, and occasionally of which. Comments that dont help in the aftermath of a hurricane is a picture book made entirely of quotations from president donald trump in the wake of hurricane florence. Whose is the possessive form of the pronoun who, while whos is a contraction of the words who is or who has. The first whose is probably a fused determinerheadthat is, the determiner whose has fused with some understood noun phrase cat, for. Is the word whose referring to fire, an inanimate object, correct in this sentence. Whose is the possessive of who or, somewhat controversially, which. Youll be shocked when i tell you who called me last night. When we understand grammar, we can write with confidence, knowing we can convey our ideas to the world.
Helen is the woman whose face launched a thousand ships. Learn whether you are allowed to use whose to refer to inanimate objects. It acts in place of a noun appearing in the possessive the person whose views we admire. Get grammar girls take on whose for inanimate objects. Whose is a possessive adjective, which means it describes who owns something. For each of the following, choose the correct sentence. See authoritative translations of whose book is this. There is, however, some argument about whether its ok to use whose to refer to something thats not a person or animal. In everyday speech, whom is considered rather formal and oldfashioned. The word whose is possessive, and it is often used as an adjective, which is a word that describes or clarifies a noun or a pronoun.
Since the 1700s, grammarians and usage commentators have held that whose can only be used as the possessive of who, not which. We use these to give extra information, or to make it clear which person, or thing, were talking about. We use whose because the pronoun is indicating that the book belongs to someone. Writers occasionally confuse these two words, which sound alike but have different meanings and functions in the sentence. The first whose is probably a fused determinerheadthat is, the determiner whose has fused with some understood noun phrase cat, for example. It makes sense to say that whose is the possessive form of who because who is in the word. Whose is a pronoun in the possessive case and must be used to indicate possession of an object. It is the first childrens book that demonstrates what not to say after a natural disaster. Sep 16, 2015 the usual order in questions like this is.
Last weeks comments section yielded a request to highlight the difference between whose and whos. Rather, grammar defines the logic of a language, and how it creates meaning. Get the whos whose debate cleared up with this helpful grammar video. Its possible to use who instead of whom in many cases. The trouble here is due to the apostrophe, which on 99% of english words. The grammar checker on ms word is not good at spotting problems with these two and sometimes advises the incorrect option. Well i have a grammar question regarding the who, whom, whose pronouns. The technique avoids an awkward of which construction. For those who can get a little frazzled with proper grammar, this book is very helpful. Whose is a possessive word used in questions and relative clauses. Shirley has a 17yearold daughter whose ambition is to be a photographer. Smashing grammar 2019 written by the founder of grammar monster, smashing grammar includes a glossary of grammar. If you have two sloppy roommates, you might wonder whose dirty socks are on the dining room table, or whose gross dishes are on the couch, or whose smelly feet stunk up the bathroom. The whowhomwhose combo, with its possessive whose, agreed to allow that and which to borrow whose when they needed to show possession.
Whose is a pronoun used in questions to ask who owns something or has something. Is the sentence whose your daddy interchangeable with. When used as the start of a clause, whose serves as a relative pronoun used to indicate that the following noun belongs to or is associated with the person or thing mentioned in the previous clause. Whose shows the ownership or possession of something by someone and should be followed by a noun paul, whose eyes are red, hasnt slept much all holiday. As in the other instances, whose could be replaced by another pronoun in the possessive case, such as his, her, our, my, your, etc. The correct use of whowhomwhose is discussed thoroughly in the parts of speech section of. Whos book is this so in conclusion, it seems to me that those two sentenses are both fine in terms of grammar and colloquialism as well, and what so called structural weight is may be negligible when we simply focus on the meaning itself. For example, while you wouldnt say, the book, who is 500 pages, was released in 1923, you could say, the book, whose 500 pages fly by, was released in 1923. Alone or before a noun, whose is used to introduce a question.
Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation. Is this the girl whose articles have been published in esquire magazine. All of a sudden, their child isnt as brilliant as they thought, and their school isnt quite as good as they thought. Dont worrywell teach you a trick to remember the difference whose and whos in this post. So i stumbled upon a phrase today and i discovered i dont know whether the whose form reffers only to singular objects, such as. You usually need the s when you are going to answer questions with whose. Remember that contracted words should not be used in formal essays. We use the question word whose to ask about possession. Now youre someone whos ready to use these pronouns in style. The following is a minitutorial on the uses of who, whom, and whose.
Heartbreaking story of vet whose suicide prompted questions over animal welfare. These words exhibit the condition of case, which youve already mastered. Whose and whos are much easier to differentiate than who and whom. As in that last example above, whoseunlike who or whosmay apply to inanimate objects or other nonperson entities. This is a grammar lesson on the difference between whose and whos. However, once you get the knack of it, deciding how to use who, whose and whom can. Who s is a contraction of who is or who has whose is the possessive case of who who s the man whose wife called. It is the first childrens book that demonstrates what not to say after a. The doctor who you recommended is not available for three months. All of a sudden, their child isnt as brilliant as they thought. Questions beginning with whose questions beginning with whose. For example, while you wouldnt say, the book, who is 500 pages, was. Whose is the possessive form of both who and which 2. Yes, it s grammatical, though not every english speaker will find it so.
Whos book is this if this is your first visit, be sure to check out the faq by clicking the link above. Whose boat is this boat comments that dont help in the. After i explain whose, i will also show you how to use s to indicate possession in english. People confuse these two words when writing because they sound the same when speakingand, as always, thats confusing. The grammar checker on ms word is not good at spotting problems with. Feb 26, 2015 whose english grammar whose grammar whose grammar use english grammar rules whose students use for who all the time and this is not correct. Can you please tell me the names of the people who whom whose helped organize the aids charity event. Who, whose, which and that learning english cambridge english. Even experienced academics may have difficulty deciding how to use these words, especially when it comes to the difference between who and whom. Remember that contracted words should not be used in. Dec 03, 20 i wanted to make one further edit to the secretarys sentence. Whom, whose, and whos 2 fill the gaps with whom, whose, or whos. In this post, we are going to learn more about wh questions. Grammar worksheets pronouns whose whose book is this.
Whose is the possessive version of the relative pronoun of who. If you already know how to use these words, you can skip the explanation and go directly to the exercises. Which and that, the relative pronouns for animals and objects do not have an equivalent so whose can be used here as well, such as in the movie, whose name i cant remember. Now try and complete the sentences below using whose or whos. Congress passed the statute, whose purpose was to lower taxes. Advanced fill in each blank with who, whom, or whose. The river, whose water runs deep, is vital for trade and commerce. The word whose is used in several different grammatical ways. I wanted to make one further edit to the secretarys sentence. Youll be shocked when i tell you whom called me last night. Inside youll learn all about the parts of grammar, but more importantly. In the following exercise you will have to decide whether to use whos or whose in these sentences. Whose your daddy doesnt make sense because whose is a possessive adjective, or a pronoun, as in. Who, whom and whose are common and important english words, yet they are often mixed up or misunderstood in speech and writing.
Amber, igor, and miss hamrick dreamed up that and which when they wanted to refer to inanimate objects and abstractions. In this video, youll learn more about when to use whose and whos correctly in american english. There is no dispute about using whose to refer to a person or animal. Nov 08, 20 in this video, youll learn more about when to use whose and whos correctly in american english. In previous posts, i showed you some wh questions and how to use them. For example, a purse belonging to a woman is the woman. Questions beginning with whose, tenses, english grammar. Whom quiz the blue book of grammar and punctuation. William faulkner, whos, whose books i read in high school, remains one of my. Yes, its grammatical, though not every english speaker will find it so. Note that if you use thisthese or thatthose or itthey, make su. Type all of your answers and then click on check answers. For some of these see my original answer below, it has been grammatical to use it for inanimate objects, at least. However, many people still find whose and whos particularly confusing because, in english, an apostrophe followed by an s usually indicates the possessive form of a word.
Whose is appropriate for inanimate objects in all cases except the interrogative case, where whose is in the beginning of a sentence. The people, whose ideas are gaining ground, are staging a protest. This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution noncommercial noderivatives 4. Get the who s whose debate cleared up with this helpful grammar video. So, in this case, whose is a possessive adjective, because it describes who owns something. Whos and whose, commonly confused words in the english language.