Who’s vs. Whose – How To Distinguish Them

In the realm of English grammar, certain pairs of words are frequently mistaken for each other. These are known as commonly confused words. A pair that often perplexes authors of academic writing is “who’s” vs. “whose.” Although they sound similar, their grammatical uses and meanings differ distinctively. “Who’s” is a contraction and stands for “who is” or “who has,” whereas “whose” is a possessive pronoun that refers to ownership. Learn to distinguish “who’s” from “whose” in this article.

Definition of “who’s vs. whose”

Although the spelling of “who’s” and “whose” is very similar, the meanings and uses of each are entirely different. “Who’s” depicts a contraction and refers to “who is” and “who has.” It is a composition of a pronoun and a verb. On the contrary, “whose” is the possessive form of the pronoun “who”, which refers to ownership or replaces a noun.

While “who’s” and “whose” might be easily confused by sound, they cannot be used interchangeably, as they must be used in different contexts. A common mistake is to use the contraction “who’s” to express ownership or possession, as it is common to add an “-s” to possessive forms. However, it can be noted that possessive forms with an “-s” at the end never have an apostrophe. Thus, the correct word in this case would be “whose.”

Using the word “who’s”

The word “who’s” is an abbreviated form or contraction of “who is” or “who has,” where the apostrophe before the “s” represents the shortening. It can indicate a question or be used as a relative pronoun to modify nouns.

“Who’s” as an indicator of a question

When the word “who’s” is used to indicate a question, it stands in the first position of a clause or a sentence.

“Who’s” as a modifier of a noun

When “who’s” is placed at the beginning of a clause, it may be used to modify the subject of the main clause. This means that additional information is introduced to provide more relevant details about the subject. In these cases, “who’s” acts as a relative pronoun and refers to the person in the main clause.

Tip for using “who’s” correctly

“Who’s” is a contraction and consists of a combination of the words “who is” or “who has”. As it is a specified contraction, there are no direct synonyms that can be used instead of “who’s.” Nevertheless, there are phrases and constellations of words that depict alternatives for “who is” or “who has.” Although the sentence structure may vary, replacing “who’s” with synonyms is a helpful way to determine whether to use “who’s” or “whose.”

Using the word “whose”

“Whose” represents the pronoun “who” in its possessive form. It may indicate statements and questions to ask for possession, or it may be used to emphasize and elaborate on the person that you are referring to.

“Whose” in an interrogative context

When the word “whose” is used in an interrogative context, it begins the sentence and has the purpose of asking about association or ownership. It aligns with other possessive adjectives like “my”, “your”, “his”, “her”, “its”, “our”, and “their”, in question form.

“Whose” as a relative pronoun

Relative clauses are dependent clauses and typically add extra information about the subject in the main clause. When “whose” is used as a relative pronoun in a dependent clause, it indicates ownership or possession regarding the subject in the main clause.

Tip for using “whose” correctly

As “whose” represents the possessive form of both “who” and “which,” there are no direct synonyms for it. However, the following examples may be helpful to determine whether to use “who’s” or “whose.”

Practice sheet

To evaluate your skill in distinguishing between “who’s” and “whose”, fill in the blank spaces in the ten sentences. You can then check the second tab for the correct answers to verify your understanding.