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The Mysterious Word ‘Whose’ |
Suppose you are at a birthday party. Everyone has a cell
phone. Just as the group begins singing to the birthday
girl, someone’s phone rings loudly and won’t stop. You
see the noisy phone on the table and ask:
Whose phone is this?
Someone answers:
It’s mine. I’m sorry!
… and turns the sound off. Even though this person and
her phone interrupted the party, she did introduce the
word for today’s grammar lesson: “whose.”
It may seem short and simple, but how to use and write
“whose” confuses even native English speakers. This is
partly because they mistake it with another word that
sounds the same: “who’s” (spelled w-h-o-apostrophe-s) –
a contraction that means “who is” or “who has.”
In contrast, the word “whose” is used to show
possession. It is a pronoun that comes from the word
“who” but acts as an adjective. It always appears before
a noun – for example, in the phrase “whose phone.”
Today, we’ll tell you about the three uses of “whose”:
in questions, to introduce relative clauses and to
introduce noun clauses.
As a question word
OK, let’s start with “whose” as a question word. The
simplest way to ask who something belongs to is this:
Whose + noun + the verb “to be” + this/that/these.
Here are three examples:
Whose umbrella is this?
Whose car is that?
Whose books are these?
Ending the sentence with “this,” “that” or “these” is
useful when the thing you’re asking about is visible.
But, suppose that thing is located elsewhere. You
wording would need to be more exact. Listen to these
questions:
Whose umbrella can we take to the game?
Whose car is parked down the road?
Whose books were left in the kitchen?
How detailed you are will depend on what you’re asking.
But notice that “whose” always goes before the nouns
you’re asking about.
In relative clauses
OK, let’s move to relative clauses. We use “whose” to
introduce relative clauses that show possession by
people, animals or things. As you may recall from
earlier Everyday Grammar programs, relative clauses act
as adjectives in a sentence. For example:
She taught a student whose parents are from Brazil.
The word “whose” shows possession with “parents.” And
the relative clause “whose parents are from Brazil”
describes the noun “student.” Notice that it appears
after the word “student.” Usually, relative clauses
appear directly after the nouns they describe.
Now, let’s try something different. I’ll give you two
sentences. You think about how they might be joined
using “whose.” Ready? Listen:
I know a man. His daughter works for Voice of America.
The word “his” is a possessive adjective that describes
the noun “daughter.” So, did you discover how to combine
the sentences? Listen:
I know a man whose daughter works for Voice of America.
We replaced “his” with “whose" and joined the sentences.
The relative clause is “whose daughter works for Voice
of America.” This clause acts like an adjective
describing the man.
In noun clauses
Another type of clause that uses “whose” is a noun
clause. You’ll recall that noun clauses behave like
nouns in a sentence.
In noun clauses, “whose” often appears in sentences with
a main verb of either “know” or “wonder.” Again, the
meaning is one of possession. Here’s an example with
“know.”
He knows whose song was chosen for the competition.
The word “whose” introduces the noun clause “whose song
was chosen for the competition.”
Now suppose you were the one seeking information. You
could ask a direct question:
Whose song was chosen for the competition?
… or an indirect question:
Do you know whose song was chosen for the competition?
The words “whose song was chosen for the competition”
are still the noun clause.
Let’s stick with this example but use the verb “wonder.”
Suppose you want to know whose song was chosen but,
rather than ask, you simply think aloud. You might say:
I wonder whose song was chosen for the competition.
Again, the noun clause is the same.
To ‘whose’ or not…
For a long time, “whose” was used to show possession
only by people or animals. Grammar tyrants balked at its
use for non-living things. For example, they would not
like this sentence: “This is the book whose author won
the award.” The relative clause “whose author won the
award” describes a non-living thing: a book.
But, that rule is now considered dated, including by
Merriam-Webster dictionary. And, the truth is that
English doesn’t have an equivalent possessive pronoun
for non-living things, so even the New York Times uses
“whose” for them. Times reporters are not the only ones.
Writers dating back centuries, such as Shakespeare, did
the same.
Well, that’s our time for today. You can use the
Comments section to practice using “whose” in questions,
relative clauses and noun clauses. You can also check
each other’s work. Or, to say it another way, use the
Comments section to see who’s using “whose” correctly.
I’m Alice Bryant. |
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