ESEN
Which one to use?Advancedpronounclause
WhosevsOf which
'Whose' is the possessive relative for people and things; 'of which' is a more formal alternative for things.
Side-by-side comparison
Whose
pronoun"Whose" is the relative possessive for people: it indicates something belongs to the person we are talking about. "The woman whose car was stolen."
The student whose essay won the prize was very surprised when her name was called out.
He is the friend whose flat I stayed in when I first moved to the city last year.
They built a community library whose collection includes books in over thirty languages.
Of which
clause"Of which" is the relative possessive for things. It is more formal and used when the possessor is an object or concept, not a person: "A book the title of which I forget."
The book has four chapters, the last of which deals with pronunciation and intonation.
She has three cats, two of which are very shy and rarely come out when guests visit.
They visited four museums, the best of which was the modern art gallery in the old town.
Common mistake
- •The main error: believing "whose" is only valid for people, it also works for objects: "The building whose roof is damaged" is correct.
- •Second error: "whose" (no apostrophe) = possessive relative; "who's" (with apostrophe) = "who is/has" (not possessive).
Trick to remember it
- •Test: replace with "who is", if it makes sense, use "who's" (contraction with apostrophe); if not, use "whose" (possessive, no apostrophe).
- •"Manager who's in charge" = "manager who is in charge" = correct; "manager whose decision" = "manager who is decision" = nonsense = possessive.
Quick rule
- •"Whose" = possessive relative for people and things; "who's" = "who is/has" (contraction, not possessive).
- •Can you substitute "[noun]'s"? Yes = "whose"; does "who is/has" make sense? = "who's."
Did you know?
The "rule" that WHOSE can only refer to people has been debated and rejected by grammarians since at least the 18th century. In reality, the most canonical authors of English literature used WHOSE for objects freely: John Milton, Shakespeare, and many others. The restriction is a classic example of prescriptive hypercorrection, a rule invented by 18th-century grammarians who tried to purify English with pseudo-Latin rules, even though actual language use had never had that restriction. Today, the most important style guides (Chicago, Garner's) confirm that WHOSE for things is perfectly correct.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She lives in a house _____ roof is covered in solar panels.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
He took a photo of a bird _____ feathers were iridescent blue.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
WhatvsWhich
'What' asks from an unlimited set of options; 'which' asks when there is a limited, defined set of options to choose from.
WhichvsWho
'Which' is used for things, animals, and concepts; 'who' is used for people.
Who'svsWhose
'Who\'s' contracts 'who is' or 'who has'; 'whose' asks or states who something belongs to.
AvsAn
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy