Whose is a wh-word. We use whose to ask questions and to introduce relative clauses.
We use whose to ask a question about possession:
Whose birthday is it today?
Whose house was used in the film ‘Gosford Park’?
Whose are these gloves?
We use whose in indirect questions:
Juliet wondered whose the sports car was.
Don’t confuse whose and who’s. Who’s means who is:
Whose book is this? (Who does this book belong to?)
Who’s driving us home? (Who is driving us home?)
We use whose to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people, animals and things:
John works with that other chap whose name I can’t remember.
Shirley has a 17-year-old daughter whose ambition is to be a photographer.
This is the book whose title I couldn’t remember.
We don’t use whose when we mean who’s (who is)
Who’s there?
Not: Whose there?
Whose little brother is he?
Not: Who’s little brother is he?
