Definition of 'whose'

Word Frequency

whose

(huːz )

1. pronoun

You use whose at the beginning of a relative clause where you mention something that belongs to or is associated with the person or thing mentioned in the previous clause.

I saw a man shouting at a driver whose car was blocking the street.

...a speedboat, whose fifteen-strong crew claimed to belong to the Italian navy.

...tourists whose vacations included an unexpected adventure.

2. pronoun & determiner

You use whose in questions to ask about the person or thing that something belongs to or is associated with.

Whose was the better performance?

'Whose is this?'—'It's mine.'

'It wasn't your fault, John.'—'Whose, then?'

Whose car were they in?

Whose daughter is she?

3. determiner

You use whose after certain words, especially verbs and adjectives, to introduce a clause where you talk about the person or thing that something belongs to or is associated with.

I'm wondering whose mother she is then.

I can't remember whose idea it was for us to meet again.

Whose is also a conjunction.

I wondered whose the coat was.

That kind of person likes to spend money, it doesn't matter whose it is.

English Easy Learning GrammarInterrogative pronounsThe interrogative pronouns who, whom, and whose are used only for reference to people. The interrogative pronouns which and what are used for reference ... Read more

English Easy Learning GrammarRelative clausesRelative clauses tell us more about nouns. They function rather like adjectives, and are found as postmodifiers in a noun phrase. The noun that is modified ... Read more

English Easy Learning GrammarRelative pronounsThe relative pronouns are the words who, whom, which, and that.
person thing
subject

object who or that

whom or that which or that

which or that ... Read more

Video: pronunciation of
whose

whose in British English

(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

Word origin

Old English hwæs, genitive of hwā who and hwæt what

Word Frequency

whose in American English

(huz )

pronoun

that or those belonging to whom

used without a following noun

whose is this? whose will look best?

possessive pronominal adjective

of, belonging to, made by, or done by whom or which

whose book is lost? a song whose popularity endures

Word origin

ME whos, hwas < OE hwæs, gen. of hwa, who

Examples of 'whose' in a sentence
whose

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…

There was little doubt about whose side the public were on.And what about the ones whose applications fail? Praise from the one person whose opinion matters most gets important plans working.That's not to mention clauses whose parentage and application is a matter of legal dispute.There is one man who bears overwhelming responsibility for this disaster ; a man whose barbaric military tactics have caused the vast majority of those 400,000 deaths.Town halls across the UK have paid 12 million in compensation over four years to motorists whose cars were damaged by potholes.A PREGNANT woman whose car rolled backwards off a harbour wall blamed it on a faulty electronic handbrake.The person whose holidays you dread because of the six hours of sunset snaps that will follow.And the person whose opinion matters most to you will be impressed.You can tell who the leader is in advance by watching for the person whose movements set other people moving.