The word whose definition

: of or relating to whom or which especially as possessor or possessors

whose gorgeous vesture heaps the groundRobert Browning

, agent or agents

the law courts, whose decisions were importantF. L. Mott

, or object or objects of an action

the first poem whose publication he ever sanctionedJ. W. Krutch

: that which belongs to whom

used without a following noun as a pronoun equivalent in meaning to the adjective whose

tell me whose it wasWilliam Shakespeare

Example Sentences

Adjective

The granddaddy of all metafictional novels was Tristram Shandy, whose narrator’s dialogues with his imaginary readers are only one of many ways in which Sterne foregrounds the gap between art and life that conventional realism seeks to conceal.


David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, 1992


In early times when I sat with my grandfather … I was puzzled about the relation between the Davis who had lived in a world of great events and my Old Jeff, whose name had entered into the common speech of the region …


Robert Penn Warren, Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back, 1980


He was a flamboyant, excited person whose eyes darted here and there, like a child’s, afraid of what they might miss.


E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime, 1974

Pronoun

Though life here is a dangerous business for olive trees, in summer the children roam the streets alone, and well into the night. Everyone knows whose are whose, and keeps an eye out.


David Leavitt, Travel & Leisure, May 2000


And now for the Ignorance and Folly which he reproaches us with, let us see (if we are Fools and Ignoramus’s) whose is the Fault, the Men’s or our’s.


Benjamin Franklin 28 May 1722,

in Benjamin Franklin Writings1987

Recent Examples on the Web



Many of the calls were from retailers whose business was looted before becoming engulfed in flames.


Fox News, 3 June 2020





The latter company once was owned by Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage.


Jennifer Henderson And Hollie Silverman, CNN, 2 June 2020





The Department of Veterans Affairs, whose headquarters on Vermont Avenue is steps from the White House, ordered all nonessential employees to go home by noon on Monday.


Anchorage Daily News, 2 June 2020





Five officers picked up Owensby, whose face was cut and bleeding, and put him in the back of a police cruiser.


Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati.com, 2 June 2020





My close neighbor is a grandmother whose son and granddaughter have moved in with her.


Amy Dickinson, oregonlive, 2 June 2020





But this list represents a majority of them and those whose absence would be felt.


Jim Ayello, The Indianapolis Star, 2 June 2020





The zoo is no longer controlled by Exotic, whose legal name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage.


NBC News, 2 June 2020





The researchers’ first step was to use the DNA sequences to identify the species of animals—goats, sheep, ibex or cows—whose skin was used to make the parchment.


Josie Glausiusz, Scientific American, 2 June 2020



See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘whose.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Pronoun

Middle English whos, genitive of who, what

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Pronoun

12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of whose was
before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near whose

Cite this Entry

“Whose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whose. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.

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Merriam-Webster unabridged

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English whos, from Old English hwæs, from Proto-Germanic *hwes, genitive case of *hwaz (who) *hwat (what).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /huːz/
  • Rhymes: -uːz
  • Homophones: who’s, whos

Determiner[edit]

whose

  1. (interrogative) Of whom, belonging to whom; which person’s or people’s.

    Whose wallet is this?

  2. (relative) Of whom, belonging to whom.

    This is the man whose dog caused the accident.

    (= This man’s dog caused the accident.)

    Venus, whose sister Serena is, won the latest championship.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

      The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. [] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

  3. (relative) Of which, belonging to which.

    We saw several houses whose roofs were falling off.

    (= The roofs were falling off several houses that we saw.)

Translations[edit]

of whom (interrogative)

  • Arabic: لِمَن(liman)
  • Armenian: please add this translation if you can
  • Belarusian: чый (čyj)
  • Bulgarian: чий (čij)
  • Catalan: de qui
  • Chickasaw: kata
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 誰的谁的 (zh) (shuí de, shéi de)
  • Czech: čí (cs)
  • Danish: hvis (da)
  • Dutch: van wie, wiens (nl) m or n, wier (nl) f pl
  • Esperanto: kies (eo)
  • Estonian: kelle
  • Finnish: kenen (fi)
  • French: à qui
  • Galician: de quen
  • Georgian: ვისი (ka) (visi)
  • German: wessen (de)
  • Greek: ποιανού m or n (poianoú), ποιανής f (poianís), ποιανών m pl or f pl or n pl (poianón), τίνος (el) m or f or n (tínos)
    Ancient: τινῶν m pl or f pl or n pl (tinôn), τίνος m or f or n (tínos), τοῦ m or f or n (toû)
  • Hebrew: שֶׁל מִי(shel mi)
  • Hindi: किस का (kis kā), किसका (kiskā)
  • Hungarian: kinek (a/az) …-a/-e/-ja/-je/-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei? (only in adjectival/determiner’s position; for the predicative/pronoun’s position, see the other sense below)
  • Ido: di qua (io)
  • Irish: cé leis
  • Italian: di chi
  • Japanese: 誰の (ja) (だれの, dare no), どなたの (ja) (donata no) (honorific)
  • Kazakh:
    Arabic: كىمنىڭ
    Cyrillic: кімнің (kımnıñ)
  • Korean: 누구의 (ko) (nuguui), 누구 것 (nugu geot)
  • Kyrgyz: кимдики (kimdiki), кимдин (kimdin)
  • Latin: cuius (la) m or f or n, quorum (la) m pl or n pl, quarum (la) f pl
  • Macedonian: чиј (čij)
  • Mazanderani: کنی(kënê, këni)
  • Mongolian:
    Cyrillic: хэний (xenii)
    Mongolian: ᠬᠡᠨ ᠦ (ken-ü)
    Classical Mongolian: ᠬᠡᠨ ᠦ (ken-ü)
  • Navajo: háí bi-
  • Norwegian: hvem sin, hvems, hvis (no)
  • Old Church Slavonic:
    Cyrillic: чии (čii)
  • Old English: hwæs
  • Polish: czyj (pl)
  • Portuguese: de quem (pt)
  • Russian: чей (ru) (čej), че́йный (čéjnyj) (colloquial, nonstandard)
  • Serbo-Croatian: чѝјӣ, čìjī
  • Slovak: čí
  • Slovene: čigáv (sl)
  • Sorbian:
    Lower Sorbian: ceji
  • Spanish: de quién (es)
  • Swedish: vems (sv)
  • Turkish: kimin (tr)
  • Tuvan: кымның (kımnıñ), кым (kım)
  • Ukrainian: чий (čyj)
  • Urdu: کس کا(kis kā)
  • Vietnamese: của ai
  • Volapük: kima
  • Yakut: ким (kim)
  • Yiddish: וועמענס(vemens)

of whom (relative)

  • Arabic: اَلَّذِي (ar) m (allaḏī), اَلَّتِي‎ f (allatī), اَلَّذِينَ‎ m pl (allaḏīna), اَللَّوَاتِي‎ f pl (al-lawātī)
  • Catalan: el subjecte del qual (ca), de qui (ca)
  • Czech: jehož (cs) m or n jejíž (cs) f jejichž (cs) pl
  • Danish: hvis (da)
  • Dutch: van wie, wiens (nl) m or n, wier (nl) f pl
  • Esperanto: kies (eo)
  • Estonian: kelle
  • Finnish: jonka (fi)
  • French: de qui, dont (fr), duquel (fr) (de + lequel)
  • Galician: de quen, cuxo (gl) m
  • Georgian: რომლის (romlis)
  • German: dessen (de) m or n, deren (de) f pl
  • Greek: του οποίου m or n (tou opoíou), της οποίας f (tis opoías), των οποίων m pl or f pl or n pl (ton opoíon)
    Ancient: οὗ m or n (hoû), ἧς f (hês), ὧν m or f or n (hôn), οἷν m du or n du (hoîn), αἷν f du (haîn)
  • Hindi: जिसका (hi) (jiskā)
  • Hungarian: akinek (a/az) …-a/-e/-ja/-je/-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei
  • Indonesian: yang (id), yang mana
  • Irish: a (indirect relative followed by resumptive possessive pronoun)
  • Italian: il cui (it)
  • Kazakh:
    Arabic: كىمنىڭ
    Cyrillic: кімнің (kımnıñ)
  • Latin: cuius (la) m or f or n, quorum (la) m pl or n pl, quarum (la) f pl
  • Mongolian:
    Cyrillic: хэний (xenii)
    Mongolian: ᠬᠡᠨ ᠦ (ken-ü)
    Classical Mongolian: ᠬᠡᠨ ᠦ (ken-ü)
  • Norwegian: hvis (no)
  • Polish: który (pl) m
  • Portuguese: cujo (pt) m, cuja (pt) f
  • Romanian: cui (ro)
  • Russian: чей (ru) (čej)
  • Slovene: čígar (sl)
  • Spanish: de quien (es), cuyo (es) m, cuya (es) f, cuyas f pl, cuyos (es) m pl
  • Swedish: vars (sv)
  • Tuvan: кымның (kımnıñ), кым (kım)
  • Urdu: جس کا(jis kā)
  • Yakut: ким (kim)

of which (relative)

  • Czech: jehož (cs) m or n jejíž (cs) f jejichž (cs) pl
  • Danish: hvis (da)
  • Dutch: waarvan (nl)
  • Esperanto: kies (eo)
  • Estonian: mille (et)
  • Finnish: jonka (fi)
  • French: dont (fr), duquel (fr) m, de laquelle (fr) f, desquels (fr) m pl, desquelles (fr) f pl
  • Galician: cuxo (gl) m, cuxa f
  • Georgian: რომლის (romlis)
  • German: dessen (de) m or n, deren (de) f pl
  • Hindi: जिसका (hi) (jiskā)
  • Hungarian: aminek/amelynek (a/az) …-a/-e/-ja/-je/-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei
  • Interlingua: cuje
  • Irish: a (ga) (indirect relative followed by resumptive possessive pronoun)
  • Italian: il cui (it)
  • Latin: cuius (la) m or f or n, quorum (la) m pl or n pl, quarum (la) f pl
  • Norwegian: hvis (no)
  • Polish: który (pl) m
  • Portuguese: cujo (pt) m, cuja (pt) f, cujos (pt) m pl, cujas (pt) f pl
  • Russian: кото́рого (ru) (kotórovo), чей (ru) (čej)
  • Spanish: cuyo (es) m, cuya (es) f, cuyos (es) pl, cuyas f pl
  • Swedish: vars (sv)
  • Urdu: جس کا(jis kā)

Pronoun[edit]

whose

  1. (interrogative) That or those of whom or belonging to whom.

    Several people have lost their suitcases. Whose have you found?

  2. (relative) That or those of whom or belonging to whom.
    This car is blocking the way, but Mr Smith, whose it is, will be here shortly.
    • 1833, Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 3, page 637 (Google Books view):
      If he starts it on another man’s lands, and kills it there, it belongs to the owner of the land; but if he start game on one man’s lands, and pursue it to those of another, and kill it there, it is neither the property of the man on whose lands it is started, nor of him on whose it is killed, but belongs to the killer.
    • 1895, Library Journal, Volume 20, page 397 (Google Books view):
      The notes on authors are extremely brilliant and incisive, not always in good perspective and sometimes freaky in their wit, as, for instance, the reference to Mrs. Holmes, of whose books it is said, «The secret of their long popularity has never been divulged by their readers,» and Mrs. Harris, of whose it is said, «To a lively mind they should be conducive of profound sleep,» which, whatever its faults, is by no means true of «Rutledge.»

Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

  • Howes, Howse, howes, showe, whoes

Middle English[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

whose

  1. (chiefly Late Middle English) Alternative form of whos (whose, genitive)

whose

possessive case of which or who: Whose comb is this?

Not to be confused with:

who’s – who is: Who’s going with you?

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

whose

 (ho͞oz)

adj.

1. The possessive form of who.

2. The possessive form of which.


Usage Note: The use of whose to refer to inanimate antecedents (as in We could see a building whose roof was painted gold) has been criticized by usage commentators since the 1700s. The tradition holds that whose should function only as the possessive of who, and be limited in reference to persons. Nonetheless, whose has been used to refer to inanimate things since the 1300s, and it appears in the works of many illustrious writers, including Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth. This use of whose undoubtedly serves a useful purpose, since which and that do not have possessive forms, and the substitute phrase of which is often cumbersome. Thus, the sentence He pointed to a grove of trees whose trunks were coated with ice is made somewhat stilted by the avoidance of whose: He pointed to a grove of trees, the trunks of which were coated with ice. As sentences become more complicated, the use of of which can be especially clumsy. But the notion of whose properly being a form of who (and not which) has considerable bearing on attitudes about the word. In our 2002 survey, only 44 percent of the Usage Panel approved of an example in which whose refers to a river: The EPA has decided to dredge the river, whose bottom has been polluted for years. The association of whose with people undoubtedly influenced the Panel’s response to an example that is syntactically similar to the previous one, in which the antecedent is a book, but the subject of the whose clause is a person. Some 63 percent of the Panel accepted the sentence The book, whose narrator speaks in the first person, is a mock autobiography. Note that this still leaves almost 40 percent of the Panel in disapproval. Because the alternative phrasing to whose can be so awkward, there is often no easy solution to this problem except to recast the sentence to avoid whose altogether. See Usage Notes at else, which, who.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

whose

(huːz)

determiner

1.

a. of whom? belonging to whom? used in direct and indirect questions: I told him whose fault it was; whose car is this?.

b. (as pronoun): whose is that?.

2. of whom; belonging to whom; of which; belonging to which: used as a relative pronoun: a house whose windows are broken.

[Old English hwæs, genitive of hwā who and hwæt what]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

whose

(huz)

pron.

1. the possessive case of who used as an adjective: someone whose faith is strong.

2. the possessive case of which used as an adjective: a word whose meaning escapes me; a cat whose fur is white.

3. the one or ones belonging to what person or persons: Whose umbrella is that?

[before 900; Middle English whos, early Middle English hwās, alter. of hwas, Old English hwæs, genitive of hwā who]

usage: Sometimes the phrase of which is used as the possessive of which:Chicago is a city of which the attractions are many or Chicago is a city the attractions of which are many. The use of this phrase can often seem awkward or pretentious, whereas whose sounds more idiomatic: Chicago is a city whose attractions are many.

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

whose

1. used in relative clauses

You use a noun phrase containing whose /huːz/ at the beginning of a relative clause to show who or what something belongs to or is connected with. Whose is used in both defining and non-defining clauses.

A noun phrase containing whose can be the subject or object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.

It is a story whose purpose is to entertain.

This was one of the students whose work I had seen.

When whose is the object of a preposition, the preposition can come at the beginning or end of the clause.

You should consider the people in whose home you are staying.

It was an article whose subject I have never heard of.

2. used in questions

You use whose in questions when you are asking who something belongs to or is connected with. Whose can be a determiner or a pronoun.

Whose fault is it?

Whose is this?

3. used in reported clauses

Whose is also used in reported clauses.

It would be interesting to know whose idea it was.

Do you know whose fault it is?

Be Careful!
Don’t confuse whose with who’s, which is also pronounced /huːz/. When you write down what someone says, you can write ‘who is’ or ‘who has’ as who’s. Don’t write them as ‘whose’.

‘Edward drove me here.’ – ‘Who’s Edward?’

Who’s left these boots here?

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

Translations

čí

hvis

kies

kenenjonka

čiječiji

aki éaki nek aki é?ki nek a …?

hvershvers, sem

誰の誰のもの

누구의누구의 것

kienokurio

kura

číktoréhoktorej

čigarčigav

vars

ของใครของผู้ใด

của ai

whose

[huːz]

A. PRON (in direct and indirect questions) → de quién
whose is this?¿de quién es esto?
whose are these? (1 owner expected) → ¿de quién son éstos?; (2 or more owners expected) → ¿de quiénes son éstos?
I don’t know whose it isno sé de quién es

B. ADJ

1. (in direct and indirect questions) → de quién
whose purse is this?¿de quién es este monedero?
whose cars are these? (1 owner expected) → ¿de quién son estos coches?; (2 or more owners expected) → ¿de quiénes son estos coches?
whose fault was it?¿quién tuvo la culpa?
whose car did you go in?¿en qué coche fuiste?
do you know whose hat this is?¿sabes de quién es este sombrero?
I don’t know whose watch this isno sé de quién es este reloj

2. (relative) → cuyo
those whose passports I haveaquellas personas cuyos pasaportes tengo, or de las que tengo pasaportes
the man whose hat I tookel hombre cuyo sombrero tomé
the man whose seat I sat inel hombre en cuya silla me senté
the cup whose handle you brokela taza a la que le rompiste el asa

WHOSE

In direct and indirect questions

 Whose in direct questions as well as after report verbs and expressions of (un)certainty and doubt (e.g. no sé) translates as de quién/de quiénes, (never cuyo):

Whose coat is this? ¿De quién es este abrigo? He asked us whose coats they were Nos preguntó de quiénes eran los abrigos I don’t know whose umbrella this is No sé de quién es este paraguas
As a relative

 In relative clauses whose can be translated by cuyo/cuya/cuyos/cuyas and must agree with the following noun:

The man whose daughter is a friend of Emily’s works for the Government El señor cuya hija es amiga de Emily trabaja para el Gobierno …the house whose roof collapsed… …la casa cuyo tejado se hundió…

NOTE When whose refers to more than one noun, make cuyo agree with the first:

…a party whose policies and strategies are very extremist… …un partido cuya política y tácticas son muy extremistas…

 However, cuyo is not much used in spoken Spanish. Try using another structure instead:

…the house whose roof collapsed… …la casa a la que se le hundió el tejado… My daughter, whose short story won a prize in the school competition, wants to be a journalist Mi hija, a quien premiaron por su relato en el concurso de la escuela, quiere ser periodista

! There is no accent on quien here, as it is a relative pronoun.

Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

whose

poss pron

(interrog) → wessen; whose is this?wem gehört das?; whose car did you go in?in wessen Auto sind Sie gefahren?

(rel) → dessen; (after f and pl) → deren

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

whose

(huːz) adjective, pronoun

belonging to which person(?). Whose is this jacket?; Whose (jacket) is this?; Whose car did you come back in?; In whose house did this incident happen?; Tell me whose (pens) these are.

relative adjective, relative pronoun

of whom or which (the). Show me the boy whose father is a policeman; What is the name of the man whose this book is?

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

whose

الَّذِي, لـِمَنْ čí hvis dessen, wessen τίνος, του οποίου cuyo, de quién kenen à qui, dont čije, čiji di chi 誰の, 誰のもの 누구의, 누구의 것 van wie hvem sin czyj cujo, de quem чей vars ของใคร, ของผู้ใด ki onun, kimin của ai 谁的

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

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pronoun

(the possessive case of who used as an adjective): Whose umbrella did I take? Whose is this one?

(the possessive case of which used as an adjective): a word whose meaning escapes me; an animal whose fur changes color.

the one or ones belonging to what person or persons: Whose painting won the third prize?

VIDEO FOR WHOSE

QUIZ

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Origin of whose

First recorded before 900; Middle English whos, early Middle English hwās; replacing hwas, Old English hwæs, genitive of interrogative pronoun hwā who

usage note for whose

2. Sometimes the phrase of which is used as the possessive of which: Chicago is a city of which the attractions are many or Chicago is a city the attractions of which are many. The use of this phrase can often seem awkward or pretentious, whereas whose sounds more idiomatic: Chicago is a city whose attractions are many.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH whose

who’s, whose

Words nearby whose

whorled, whort, whortleberry, who’s, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, whose, whosesoever, whosever, whosis, whoso, whosoever

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use whose in a sentence

  • Then add in all bored people, as well as people whose job it is to report on celebrities.

  • Cassandra, whose hair has already begun to fall out from her court-mandated chemotherapy, could face a similar outcome.

  • Isolated lesbians learned that there were other women like them via books whose covers aimed to titillate heterosexual men.

  • Duke was a state representative whose neo-Nazi alliances were disgorged in media reports during his run for governor in 1991.

  • The gentleman was listed as Orthodox and kosher, which is way too religious for my friend whose JSwipe account I was test-driving.

  • Bernard stood there face to face with Mrs. Vivian, whose eyes seemed to plead with him more than ever.

  • A Yankee, whose face had been mauled in a pot-house brawl, assured General Jackson that he had received his scars in battle.

  • Polavieja, as everybody knew, was the chosen executive of the friars, whose only care was to secure their own position.

  • Was a pupil of Caspar Netscher of Heidelberg, whose little pictures are of fabulous value.

  • The men, whose poniards his sword parried, had recourse to fire-arms, and two pistols were fired at him.

British Dictionary definitions for whose


determiner

  1. of whom? belonging to whom? used in direct and indirect questionsI told him whose fault it was; whose car is this?
  2. (as pronoun)whose is that?

of whom; belonging to whom; of which; belonging to which: used as a relative pronouna house whose windows are broken

Word Origin for whose

Old English hwæs, genitive of hwā who and hwæt what

Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Hill Street Blues gave me an opportunity to work with an ensemble cast of people whose work I admired.

Steven Bochco

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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD WHOSE

Old English hwæs, genitive of hwāwho and hwætwhat.

info

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

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PRONUNCIATION OF WHOSE

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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF WHOSE

Whose is a determiner.

The determinant is a modifier that provides context to the noun, often in terms of quantity and possession.

WHAT DOES WHOSE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Who (pronoun)

The pronoun who, in English, is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used chiefly to refer to humans. Its derived forms include whom, an objective form the use of which is now generally confined to formal English; the possessive form whose; and the emphatic form whoever (also whosoever and whom(so)ever; see also -ever).


Definition of whose in the English dictionary

The definition of whose in the dictionary is of whom? belonging to whom? used in direct and indirect questions. Other definition of whose is of whom; belonging to whom; of which; belonging to which: used as a relative pronoun.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH WHOSE

Synonyms and antonyms of whose in the English dictionary of synonyms

Translation of «whose» into 25 languages

online translator

TRANSLATION OF WHOSE

Find out the translation of whose to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of whose from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «whose» in English.

Translator English — Chinese


谁的

1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English — Spanish


de quién

570 millions of speakers

English


whose

510 millions of speakers

Translator English — Hindi


जिसका

380 millions of speakers

Translator English — Arabic


لـِمَنْ

280 millions of speakers

Translator English — Russian


чей

278 millions of speakers

Translator English — Portuguese


de quem

270 millions of speakers

Translator English — Bengali


যাহার

260 millions of speakers

Translator English — French


à qui

220 millions of speakers

Translator English — Malay


Yang mana

190 millions of speakers

Translator English — German


dessen

180 millions of speakers

Translator English — Japanese


誰の

130 millions of speakers

Translator English — Korean


누구의

85 millions of speakers

Translator English — Javanese


Kang

85 millions of speakers

Translator English — Vietnamese


của ai

80 millions of speakers

Translator English — Tamil


யாருடைய

75 millions of speakers

Translator English — Marathi


ज्याचे

75 millions of speakers

Translator English — Turkish


kimin

70 millions of speakers

Translator English — Italian


di chi

65 millions of speakers

Translator English — Polish


czyj

50 millions of speakers

Translator English — Ukrainian


чий

40 millions of speakers

Translator English — Romanian


al cui

30 millions of speakers

Translator English — Greek


τίνος

15 millions of speakers

Translator English — Afrikaans


wie se

14 millions of speakers

Translator English — Swedish


vars

10 millions of speakers

Translator English — Norwegian


hvem sin

5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of whose

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «WHOSE»

The term «whose» is very widely used and occupies the 3.480 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.

Trends

FREQUENCY

Very widely used

The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «whose» in the different countries.

Principal search tendencies and common uses of whose

List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «whose».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «WHOSE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «whose» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «whose» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about whose

10 QUOTES WITH «WHOSE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word whose.

Many, whose hearts are conquered by acute spite, roll out balanced tales from their own heart, which do not balance when you weigh words against deeds.

When one person makes an accusation, check to be sure he himself is not the guilty one. Sometimes it is those whose case is weak who make the most clamour.

It’s nice being friends over a period of time with people whose music you like so much, or other filmmakers, seeing people change, go through trials.

During a trip to Iraq last fall, I visited our theater hospital at Balad Air Force Base and witnessed these skilled medical professionals in action and met the brave soldiers whose lives they saved.

One performer whose band played my music better than I could myself was Art Farmer. He recorded ‘Sing Me Softly of the Blues’ and ‘Ad Infinitum’.

Children whose parents return to study do much better at school. Offenders who persist with studies are much less likely to reoffend. The national mental health strategy recognises the important role adult learning can play for people recovering from mental illness.

Hill Street Blues gave me an opportunity to work with an ensemble cast of people whose work I admired.

I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there’s some counter-balance to those whose interests in good government is less.

People we’ve encountered at pivotal moments who profoundly influence our direction are not necessarily the people whose names everybody knows. More often, they are the people who say or do just the right thing, at the right time.

It’s important for a parent to learn to take delight in a child whose behavior might seem mystifying. In the case of an extroverted parent with an introverted child, it can be learning to see the inner riches of your child that may not always be expressed on the surface — but are there.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «WHOSE»

Discover the use of whose in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to whose and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

1

Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools

Who decides? In this absorbing book, Jonathan Zimmerman tells the dramatic story of conflict, compromise, and more conflict over the teaching of history and morality in twentieth-century America. In history, whose stories are told, and how?

2

Whose Bible Is It?: A Short History of the Scriptures

A history of the Bible traces its evolution from an oral testament to its numerous modern iterations and translations, discussing such topics as the canonization of different versions, the adoption of certain books by religions and sects, …

3

Whose Lives Are They Anyway?: Whose Lives Are They Anyway? …

Whose Lives Are They Anyway? boldly proves a critical point: The biopic is a genuine, dynamic genre and an important oneùit narrates, exhibits, and celebrates a subject’s life and demonstrates, investigates, or questions his or her …

4

Whose Hunger?: Concepts of Famine, Practices of Aid

To the contrary, Jenny Edkins responds in this book: Famine in the contemporary world is not the antithesis of modernity but its symptom.

5

Whose Life is it Anyway?

When sculptor Ken Harrison is permanently paralysed in an accident, he resolves to die rather than live with his physically helpless state.

6

Whose Music?: A Sociology of Musical Languages

Perhaps most importantly for the contemporary reader, this book depicts the part of the process by which dominant class groups justify their domination—cultural and otherwise.

7

Whose Crisis, Whose Future

Whether it’s growing poverty and inequality or shrinking access to food and water, the collapse of global financial markets or the dire effects of climate change, every aspect of this crisis can be traced back to a transnational neoliberal …

8

Whose Pharaohs?: Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National …

An important new study of Egyptology focuses on the relationship between European imperialism and the scientific study of ancient Egypt.

Donald Malcolm Reid, 2002

Whose Art Is It? is the story of sculptor John Ahearn, a white artist in a black and Hispanic neighborhood of the South Bronx, and of the people he cast for a series of public sculptures commissioned for an intersection outside a police …

10

Whose Freedom?: The Battle over America’s Most Important Idea

But in Whose Freedom?, George Lakoff, an adviser to the Democratic party, shows that in fact the right has effected a devastatingly coherent and ideological redefinition of freedom.

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «WHOSE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term whose is used in the context of the following news items.

Murder Charge for Brooklyn Woman Whose Infant Was Found Dead …

She was adept at hiding her pregnancies. At 14, she went into labor with her first baby before her mother even knew she had conceived a child. A year later … «New York Times, Jul 15»

Police Identify Man Whose Severed Legs Were Found in New Haven

On Monday, the police announced that DNA tests had determined the identity of the man whose legs were found: Ray Roberson, a 54-year-old homeless man … «New York Times, Jul 15»

Elio Fiorucci, Whose Disco-Era Temple of Fashion Changed Retail …

Elio Fiorucci, the fashion designer and retail visionary whose stores in Milan, London and New York encapsulated the flamboyance of the disco era and … «New York Times, Jul 15»

Meet the 23-Year-Old Whose Body Is Turning into Stone

Chanel White, age 23, is living with a rare chronic disease that slowly hardens her skin and organs. (Photo courtesy Chanel White). By Chanel White, as told to … «Yahoo Health, Jul 15»

Hospital systems investing in startups whose products they use

Heritage Group, a Nashville-based venture capital firm whose limited partners are a blend of not-for-profit and for-profit health systems, including Cardinal … «ModernHealthcare.com, Jul 15»

Whose Party Is It Anyway?

Are the job losses resulting from trade larger or smaller than the economic gains? The pro-labor Economic Policy Institute contends that from 2001 to 2013, trade … «New York Times, Jul 15»

Whose Line is it Anyway?: ‘you can’t script comedy this good’

It is an idea for a TV programme so simple it barely qualifies as an idea at all: assemble four very funny people and, with minimal direction, ask them to be funny. «Telegraph.co.uk, Jun 15»

Whose Line Is It Anyway? Live review – impro that’s improved with age

It is striking to see impro, for so long the runt of the entertainment litter, cheered in a West End theatre. This Whose Line Is It Anyway? revival follows on from … «The Guardian, Jun 15»

Whose Line is It Anyway? Live, Adelphi Theatre, review: ‘A mix of …

«The last time I said the words Whose Line is it Anyway? the government was facing a weak opposition and Chris Evans was all over the telly,» quips Clive … «Telegraph.co.uk, Jun 15»

Hermann Zapf, 96, Dies; Designer Whose Letters Are Found …

Hermann Zapf, whose calling in life — “to create beautiful letters,” as one of his students put it — found expression in lush, steady-handed calligraphy and in … «New York Times, Jun 15»

REFERENCE

« EDUCALINGO. Whose [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/whose>. Apr 2023 ».

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    • See Also:
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      • whose
      • whosesoever
      • whosever
      • whosis
      • whoso
      • whosoever
      • whr.
      • whs. stk.
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      • whsle.
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WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English © 2023

whose /huz/USA pronunciation  
pron. 

  1. the form of the pronoun who or which used to show that something is owned, appearing before a noun:She is someone whose faith is strong. That’s a word whose meaning escapes me.
  2. This word is used in questions to mean «the one or ones belonging to what person or persons»:Whose umbrella is that?

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2023

whose 
(ho̅o̅z),USA pronunciation pron. 

  1. (the possessive case of who used as an adjective):Whose umbrella did I take? Whose is this one?
  2. (the possessive case of which used as an adjective):a word whose meaning escapes me; an animal whose fur changes color.
  3. the one or ones belonging to what person or persons:Whose painting won the third prize?
  • bef. 900; Middle English whos, early Middle English hwās; replacing hwas, Old English hwæs, genitive of hwā who

    Sometimes the phrase of which is used as the possessive of which: Chicago is a city of which the attractions are many or Chicago is a city the attractions of which are many. The use of this phrase can often seem awkward or pretentious, whereas whose sounds more idiomatic:Chicago is a city whose attractions are many.


Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

whose /huːz/ determiner

  1. of whom? belonging to whom? used in direct and indirect questions: I told him whose fault it was, whose car is this?
  2. (as pronoun): whose is that?
  3. of whom; belonging to whom; of which; belonging to which: used as a relative pronoun: a house whose windows are broken

Etymology: Old English hwæs, genitive of hwā who and hwæt what

whose‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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  • Defenition of the word whose

    • Of whom, belonging to whom.

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