What does the word whose means

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]

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)

In the conjoint relation plain whose is always used, as in “whose hat is that? ❋ Henry Louis (1921)

The horse in the light of an useful beast, fit for the plough, the road, the draft; in every social useful light, the horse has nothing sublime; but is it thus that we are affected with him, _whose neck is clothed with thunder, the glory of whose nostrils is terrible, who swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, neither believeth that it is the sound of the trumpet_? ❋ Edmund Burke (1763)

A nation whose ships are shut out from every port, and whose* envoys are exel uded from every Cabinet! — a StatQ which has lost all political influence, which has not a single ally, which is, in short, reduced to carry on a smuggling trade with great squa — drons, as the only means which remains for enabling its merchants to get rid of a part of their merchandizes! ❋ Maurice Montgaillard , Comte De Maurice Montgaillard (1812)

Money is trickling back to the labels: A label whose videos rack up 10 million streams on Vevo could collect around $70,000. ❋ John Jurgensen (2011)

No oracular revelations, though I did enjoy his definition of merchant banking, a term whose meaning had always eluded me. ❋ Alan C. Greenberg (2010)

It was oversized and it was utilitarian as you would expect from Acne — after all this is a label whose heart lies in the wearable and thus the covetable. ❋ By ALISON S. COHN (2011)

A label whose status rested on the genius of a designer who died in 2010 has been transformed, in a few days, into the house that owns event-dressing in 2011. ❋ Jess Cartner-Morley (2011)

If there’s anyone you’d want running a radio station then it’s Domino Records, the label whose roster boasts everyone from Austra and Arctic Monkeys to Tricky and Robert Wyatt. ❋ Guardian.co.uk/music (2011)

There are, it seems, still women prepared to pay €3,000 (£2,600) for a fox-trimmed suede skirt or €75 (£65) for a small milk jug, even from a label whose lustre could do with a polish. ❋ Unknown (2011)

Or another version of the word whose roots go back to the Indo-European for “animal hide” and whose worldwide storytelling future is assured in Global English. ❋ Leslie Dunton-Downer (2010)

I don’t know what really old age—a phrase whose definition keeps shifting—holds for me and my husband: Will I be the caregiver, the one who needs care, or neither? ❋ Robbie Shell (2011)

Those not on duty came into work to show solidarity with a title whose future is uncertain after the arrest of the 10 journalists on suspicion of making corrupt payments to public officials. ❋ Unknown (2012)

The result is that IN&M is freed of some £15m of annual losses, and a title whose ownership by the company had become an obsession for some, not least O’Brien who repeatedly demanded its sale as the parent company ran into trouble. ❋ Unknown (2011)

He was brought down to the riverbed by a laborer while still a puppy, frequented the worksite as a cherished companion to the workers for nearly a decade, and acquired a name whose spectacular impropriety would not register in the public ear for another half-century. ❋ Michael Hiltzik (2010)

Consider This: A negative image hurts Geraldo, a name whose pronunciation may work best with Latino family names. ❋ Bruce Lansky (2008)

The bottom blood pressure number is referred to as diastolic, a word whose meaning is unknown even to trained physicians. ❋ Martha Bolton (2007)

Think i can ‘whose‘ enough posts today to [reach] 2 [thousand]? [bet] i can! ❋ Javadog (2008)

I caught [the eye] of the whose while he was touching himself up in [the locker] [bay]. ❋ Latrobelad115 (2022)

kim’s text: [B-lin], you’re such a whose.
[b-lin’s] text: I know.. lets go to del [tabo]. ❋ Tritonbabe23 (2008)

[I know] [whose] [pencil] this is! ❋ Diggity Monkeez (2005)

Ok, [Mr. Big] [whose] [the bunny]? ❋ I, Wreckerrr (2020)

homie#1- yo you saw [lebron] last night he was [killin] em
homie#2-werd
hater-lebron is wack
homie#1- yo [whose mans] is this? ❋ Grenadianking3 (2009)

It’s [mine], it’s mine, it’s mine! ❋ Olu Dara (2004)

([Random person] joins a [snowball fight] with you and your friends)
Yo, [whose man] is that? I’m not claiming him! ❋ Greg Welch (2006)

WHAT!!! I WAS [BANNED] FROM THE [FURRY] WEBSITE I [LVOE] SO MUCH! WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS!!! ❋ Khaan111 (2009)

In a snapchat of a random kid playing with his [toy cars] on the floor of a tightly packed [subway train]… [Whose mans]! ❋ 420definer (2016)

: that which belongs to whom —used without a following noun as a pronoun equivalent in meaning to the adjective whose tell me whose it was— William Shakespeare.

What kind of word is whose?

Whose is a pronoun used in questions to ask who owns something or has something. In other words, whose is about possession. Don’t be tricked: on the one hand, because grammazons mark possessive nouns with apostrophe + s, it’s tempting to think that who’s (not whose) is the possessive form of who.

Whose name or who’s name?

whose name is vs who’s name is. The word “whose” is the possessive of “who.” The word “who’s” is the contraction of “who is.” Therefore, you would use the phrase “whose name is.”

Whose last name or who’s last name?

Whose is the possessive form of the pronoun who, while who’s is a contraction of the words who is or who has. However, many people still find whose and who’s particularly confusing because, in English, an apostrophe followed by an s usually indicates the possessive form of a word.

Who’s dog or whose dog?

“Who’s that dog?” is correct if you mean to ask who the dog is. “Who’s” is a contraction of “who is”. “Whose is that dog?” is correct if you mean to ask who the owner of the dog is.

Is whose name correct?

The correct way to phrase this is: whose name, not who’s name. The real question is about who the name belongs to. In other words, this phrase is about possession. Since whose is a possessive pronoun, it makes more sense than who’s, which is the contraction for the phrases who is and who has.

How do you use Whose in a sentence?

Whose sentence example

1. Whose goals are we talking about here, mine or yours?
2. So whose bones are they?
3. He would understand on whose side justice lies.
4. “And whose fault is that?”
5. “Tell him whose cookies you’ll make first, sis,” Jonny said testily.
6. Whose child is it?

Can whose start a sentence?

Using Whose in a Sentence When to use whose: Whose acts as a pronoun. It can question to whom something belongs. It can also begin a clause to give more information about a person and something over which they have ownership.

What’s the difference between whom and whose?

‘Whom’ is an object pronoun like ‘him’, ‘her’ and ‘us’. We use ‘whom’ to ask which person received an action. ‘Whose’ is a possessive pronoun like ‘his’, and ‘our’. We use ‘whose’ to find out which person something belongs to.

How do you use whose relative pronouns?

relative pronouns, who, whom, whose, which, that

1. Who and whom are used mainly for people. However, these pronouns can also be used to refer to animals that are mentioned by name and seen as persons.
2. Whose can be used for people, animals or things: The man whose daughter won the tournament is a tennis coach.

Is the a personal pronoun?

A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a simple substitute for the proper name of a person. Each of the English personal pronouns shows us the grammatical person, gender, number, and case of the noun it replaces….Subject and Object Pronouns.

Person	Nominative	Objective
Third plural	they	them

How do you combine sentences with relative pronouns?

Combine the following pairs of sentences using a relative pronoun.

1. The parcel reached me this morning. My brother sent it.
2. This is the house. Jack built it.
3. The boy didn’t do his homework. The teacher punished him.
4. He tells lies.
5. I know a man.
6. Bring me the file.
7. We met a girl.
8. I saw a soldier.

What is the difference between relative pronoun and relative adjective?

Differences : 01. A Relative pronoun may function as Subject or Object of the verb, or Object of a Preposition but an Adjective Clause never does this job.

What is relative adjective and example?

: a pronominal adjective that introduces a clause qualifying an antecedent (as which in “our next meeting will be on Monday, at which time a new chairman will be elected”) or a clause functioning as a substantive (as which in “I do not know which course I should follow”)

What are defining and non-defining relative clauses?

A defining relative clause identifies who or what we are speaking about, whereas a non-defining relative clause just gives us more information about who or what we are speaking about. A non-defining relative clause is separated from the main part of the sentence by commas.

How do you teach relative clauses to children?

Relatively Speaking 5 Strategies for Teaching Relative Clauses

1. Identify In-text. Like with any new grammar form, students benefit from being introduced to relative clauses through exercises that are based first on simply noticing patterns.
2. Introduce the Structure.
3. Start to Add Relative Clauses to Sentences.
4. Use Scrambled Sentences.
5. Create Relevant Writing Tasks.

See Also: whoreson Whorf Whorfian hypothesis whorish whorl whorl foot whorled whorled loosestrife whort whortleberry whose whosesoever whosever whosis whoso whosoever whr. whs. stk. whse. whsle. whump Recent searches: View All

Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks. WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English © 2023 whose /huz/USA pronunciation   pron.  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. 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.  (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? 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 of whom? belonging to whom? used in direct and indirect questions: I told him whose fault it was, whose car is this? (as pronoun): whose is that? 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):

Advertisements Advertisements Report an inappropriate ad. Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.

What Is the Difference Between Whose and Who’s?

Whose vs. who’s is one of the easiest mix-ups in English. Even though both words contain «who,» they have different meanings and are different parts of speech. This difference means that the two words can’t be used interchangeably.

In short, the difference can be summed up like this:

• Whose is a possessive pronoun indicating who owns something
• Who’s is a contraction that is short for «who is» or «who has.»

Keep reading to learn more about the difference between whose and who’s.

What Does Whose Mean?

Whose is used to indicate that something belongs to or is associated with a person or thing that has previously been mentioned.

• The dog, whose paw prints were all over the carpet, looked guilty.

Here, whose means that the dog is associated with the paw prints—he left them on the carpet.

Because whose doesn’t give us enough information on its own to work out who someone is talking about, it is used after you have already mentioned a specific thing or person, or in a question when you don’t know who you are talking about.

This gets easier with examples:

• The man, whose hair was bright orange, stood out from the crowd.

In this sentence, whose shows that the hair being talked about belongs to the man. Without referencing the man first, we wouldn’t know what subject whose was referring to.

But if we want to know who something belongs to, we can use whose in a question, like this:

• Whose paw prints are these?

What Kind of Word Is Whose?

Okay, now we’re going to get a bit more grammatical.

Whose is technically always a possessive pronoun. That means that it shows possession or ownership. For example, in the question «Whose phone is this?» you’re asking who owns the phone.

However, whose is also often used as a possessive adjective. What does this mean? It takes a few steps to explain.

A pronoun (like he, she, it) is a word that replaces a noun (a thing, person, or idea), especially a proper noun (a name).

Whose is a possessive pronoun, which means it shows possession or ownership. It replaces the person or thing to whom something belongs in a sentence.

Look at the following example.

• The girl whose eyes shine like diamonds

In this example, whose is showing that the eyes belong to the girl. But it’s also doing something else. At the same time, it is telling us which girl we are talking about by describing her.

Because of this dual function, this possessive pronoun is also functioning like a possessive adjective. It’s a stand-in for the girl, like a pronoun, but it is describing ownership of the eyes, like an adjective.

When whose comes before a noun in this way, it functions like a possessive adjective. When there is no following noun, it functions solely as a possessive pronoun.

An example of this would be asking:

• Whose is it?

Whose is replacing a specific noun, and we would need more context to know what object is being referenced.

Whew. That’s a lot of definitions.

In short, whose is a possessive pronoun that indicates ownership or belonging.

How Do You Use Whose in a Sentence?

Let’s look at some examples of how to use whose in your writing.

• Do you know whose birthday is is?
• I had no idea whose dog it was.
• Don’t get caught up in whose fault it was.
• «Whose are these?» Mom asked, holding up a pair of socks.
• Whose cell phone has signal here?
• Let me know whose proposal you choose.
• Whose idea was the best?
• Can you tell me whose project was better?

Notice that each of these sentences references a noun or pronoun in the possessive form. It’s talking about possession, which is why we are using whose.

What Does Who’s Mean?

Who’s, on the other hand, is a contraction. Who’s can mean both «who is» or «who has.»

A contraction is a way to combine and shorten words, usually two words or more. We speak in contractions often, so it’s important to use them in informal or conversational writing.

Who’s is a combination of «who» plus the verb «is» or «has.»

Who is also pronoun but it isn’t the possessive form like whose. Instead, it is a questioning or interrogative pronoun (which means it is used to ask a question).

The apostrophe in who’s replaces part of the verbs is or has in the phrases who is and who has.

To determine whether the contraction means who is or who has, the context of the rest of the sentence or conversation is crucial.

When who’s means who is, it’s dealing with the present tense. The word «who» is followed by either a verb, adverb, or adjective, like in the examples below.

• Who’s going? / Who is going?
• Who’s here? / Who is here?
• Who’s knowledgeable about computers? / Who is knowledgeable about computers?

When who’s means who has, it can have two functions: the third-person singular form of the present perfect tense or the third-person singular form of the present perfect progressive tense.

Present perfect is a tense that references something that occurred in the past at an unspecified time or began in the past. When this is the function of who’s, it precedes a verb.

• Who’s written a novel before? = Who has written a novel before?
• Who’s visited Spain? = Who has visited Spain?

Who’s as present perfect can go one step further and be part of present perfect progressive. Don’t worry too much about these terms—present perfect progressive just means something that started in the past and continues in the present. In this case, who’s will precede «been.»

For example, «Who’s been a writer for more than five years?» We know this sentence contains the contraction for «who has» because it’s asking about someone who started being a writer in the past and is now still a writer in the present.

How Do I Use Who’s in a Sentence?

Now let’s look at some examples of how to use who’s in a sentence. Since who’s can be a contraction for two words—»is» and «has»—we need examples of both.

We’ll divide these up between «who is» and «who has» to really help you understand how who’s is used.

Here are some examples where who’s is a contraction of «who is.»

• Who’s a good dog?
• Have you heard who’s speaking at the convention?
• Sally told me who’s going to the beach this summer.
• Who’s hungry for pizza?
• Do you know who’s behind all the murders?
• Who’s your professor for political science?
• We need to know who’s attending the wedding by June 4th.
• Everyone who’s anyone is at this party tonight.

If you read all of the examples above and replace who’s with «who is,» they’ll still make sense. But what about the other use of who’s?

If a sentence uses the present perfect or present perfect progressive tense, who’s is a contraction for «who has.» Here are a few examples.

• Who’s attended Comic-Con before?
• She wants to know who’s been at the company the longest.
• Who’s got a calculator?
• Ask who’s seen all the Marvel movies.
• Who’s been to this restaurant before?
• Who’s received their tax return?
• I wonder who’s gotten their college acceptance letters.
• Who’s been your biggest influence in your career?

While replacing who’s with «who is» doesn’t make sense, «who has» does. That’s how we know to use_ who’s_ in each of these sentences.

How Can I Remember the Difference Between Whose vs Who’s?

Those were some pretty technical definitions of whose and who’s. When you’re in the flow of writing, you might not think about the intricacies of grammar, like parts of speech and verb tenses.

So what’s an easier way to remember the difference between whose vs. who’s_ in the moment?

If you’re looking at your writing and can’t decide whether to use whose or who’s, read the sentence out loud and replace the word in question with «who is» and «who has.»

If it makes sense with one of those, you’ll use who’s. If it doesn’t make sense, use whose.

Typos are embarrassing. If you’re worried about using the wrong word, use ProWritingAid to highlight confused words as you write.

Download the free browser extension to catch this and 1000s of other errors wherever you write.

Whose vs. Who’s Test

Are you ready to test your knowledge in the great battle between whose vs. who’s? Take a look at these example sentences and decide whether to use who’s or whose.

1. Whose/Who’s going to be at the party?
2. Whose/Who’s fingerprints are those?
3. We don’t know whose/who’s involved in the scandal.
4. Ask them whose/who’s been married the longest.
5. Everyone loves a person whose/who’s smile lights up a room.

ANSWERS:

• 1,3, and 4: «who’s»
• 2 and 5: «whose»

How did you do?

That’s everything you need to know about these tricky homophones. We hope you have a greater understanding of the difference between whose vs. who’s.

---

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips from Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas.

This guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers.

чья, чей, чье, чьи

местоимение ↓

Словосочетания

Примеры с переводом