Whose | who's
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Because they sound so similar when speaking English, students often confuse whose and who's in their writing.
Who's
A contraction that means "who is" or "who has".
Who's is a contraction (and that is all it ever is), meaning who is or who has.
Because contractions are not appropriate for academic writing you will not need who's in your assignments—you would always write who is or who has in full.
Tell me, ♫ who's that girl ...running around with you? ♪
♪ Who's gonna tell you when it's too late ♫♪
♫♪ Who's been sleeping in my bed? ♪
You will notice that Who is... and Who has... will often occur as part of a longer verb construction
Who's been eating the cookie dough
Whose
For asking about who possesses something (possessive adjective)
Whose is a possessive adjective, with the sense of enquiring about what things belong to someone or something.
Although we talk in terms of ownership, sometimes the sentence isn't about ownership in the traditional sense, but about responsibility for.
Whose car is that in the driveway?
I don't care whose idea it was, I just want that elephant off my property.
♫♪ Well, whose bed have your boots been under? ♩
Whose as a relative pronoun
Whose is similar to who and whom to signal a type of relationship between two clauses.
Whose is also a relative pronoun
Remember our lesson on the difference between who and whom?
We found the following explanation at: Language Portal of Canada — they explain that who is the relative pronoun for when the person (in question) is the subject of the sentence, conversely whom is what we use when the person (in question) is the object of the sentence, and finally whose signals possession, or ownership, (or belonging to).
The officer, whose duty it was to control the crowd, had over-reacted.
O thou, in whose presence, my soul takes delight. ♫♪
Complete the quiz items below to see if you have understood this lesson. Then click the blue arrow at the bottom of the page to check your answers.
Instructions: Hover or tap the questions below to see the reason for the answers given in the quiz.
1. The sentence below needs either who's or whose in the spaces provided. From the drop down box, choose the correct sentence.
Tell me, ______ mess is this and _____ going to clean it up?.
Whose | who's ✔
Why: Who is responsible for this mess = Whose mess is it, and who is going to clean it up = who's.
2. Only one of the sentences below is correct. Select the correctsentence.
◻ i) Can you tell me whose been leaving the fridge door open?
◻ ii) Whose going to comfort me when I'm sad?
◻ iii) Who's shoes are those in the middle of the entrance way?
◻ iv) One teacher, whose students were very disruptive, decided to quit on the spot.
iv) ✔
Why: i) and ii) are both questions asking about someone. They should be who has and who is respectively. But iii) is about responsibility... of the shoes. Therefore it should be whose. iv) is the only correct sentence.
3. Match who's to its possible meaning/s.
What does who's mean? |
|
Who's = |
◻ whose ◻ who has ◻ who is |
who is | who has ✔
Why: Who's is always a contraction that means either who is or who has.
4. Instructions: Insert either whose or who's into the textbox provided in order to correctly complete the sentence below.
_______ been using the toothpaste and left the lid off again!?
Who's ✔
Why: Who's as part of a longer verb construction: Who has been using the toothpaste...