Grammar of whose

• 0 Questions: interrogative pronouns (what, who)

  We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. They are: who, which, whom, what and whose. These are also known as wh-words. Questions using these are called wh-questions:

• 1 Interrogative pronouns: uses

  We use who and whom on their own:

• 2 Relative pronouns

  Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, that. The relative pronoun we use depends on what we are referring to and the type of relative clause.

• 3 Relative pronoun: whose

  We usually use whose as a relative pronoun to indicate possession by people and animals. In more formal styles we can also use it for things.

• 4 No relative pronoun

  In informal styles, we often leave out the relative pronoun. We only do this in defining relative clauses, and when the relative pronoun is the object of the verb. We don’t leave out the relative pronoun when it is the subject of the verb nor in non-defining relative clauses:

• 5 Relative pronouns: typical errors

• 6 Whole

  Whole is a determiner. We use whole before nouns and after other determiners (my, the, a/an, their) to talk about quantity. We use it to describe the completeness of something:

• 7 Whose

  Whose is a wh-word. We use whose to ask questions and to introduce relative clauses.

• 8 Whose as a question word

  We use whose to ask a question about possession:

• 9 Whose in relative clauses

  We use whose to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people, animals and things:

• 10 Relative pronouns

  Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, that. The relative pronoun we use depends on what we are referring to and the type of relative clause.

• 11 Relative pronoun: whose

  We usually use whose as a relative pronoun to indicate possession by people and animals. In more formal styles we can also use it for things.

• 12 No relative pronoun

  In informal styles, we often leave out the relative pronoun. We only do this in defining relative clauses, and when the relative pronoun is the object of the verb. We don’t leave out the relative pronoun when it is the subject of the verb nor in non-defining relative clauses:

• 13 Relative pronouns: typical errors

• 14 Whole

  Whole is a determiner. We use whole before nouns and after other determiners (my, the, a/an, their) to talk about quantity. We use it to describe the completeness of something:

• 15 Whose

  Whose is a wh-word. We use whose to ask questions and to introduce relative clauses.

• 16 Whose as a question word

  We use whose to ask a question about possession:

• 17 Whose in relative clauses

  We use whose to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people, animals and things: