Main Difference – Who’s vs Whose
Although Who’s and Whose sound the same, there is a grammatical difference between these two forms. Who’s is a contraction of who is. Whose is a possessive determiner or pronoun. This grammatical disparity is the main difference between who’s and whose. Let us see the different functions of these two words separately.
Who’s – Meaning and Usage
Who’s is a contraction of who is or who has. It has no other grammatical use.
Who’s → who is
Who’s → who has
Who’s can always be replaced by who is or who has. See whether you can replace this contraction with its longer forms in the following examples.
“Who’s been sleeping in my bed?”, roared the papa bear.
(Who has)
I met the professor who’s delivering tomorrow’s lecture.
(Who is)
Do you know who’s stolen my purse?
(Who has)
There is no way of knowing who’s going to win.
(Who is)
May I know who’s speaking?
(Who is)
Do you know who’s going to win the competition?
Whose – Meaning and Usage
Whose is the possessive form of “who” and can be used as possessive pronoun and determiner. We use “whose” to find out to which person something belongs to. It is commonly used in questions to find out the owner of objects. For example,
Whose daughter are you?
Whose book is this?
Whose home have you burgled today?
Whose turn is this?
Whose is also used in forming indirect questions and adjective clauses. Here, whose functions as a relative pronoun.
I don’t know whose car that is.
He is a great man whose ideas we greatly value.
I know the girl whose house got burned.
Whose car is this?
As explained before, the best way to identify the difference between who’s and whose is to replace who’s with who is or who has. If the sentence still makes sense, then who’s is the correct choice, if it doesn’t, use whose.
Look at the following sentences and see whether you can correctly identify the difference between who’s and whose.
- Who’s round is it?
- Who’s been telling you lies?
- She is the girl whose brother won the state championship.
- You are a good friend who’s opinions I value.
- Do you know who’s going to speak?
- Whose keys are missing?
- Wright who’s house is in the Mulberry Street stated that he heard a noise.
- The zookeeper, whose arm was bitten off by a bear, was rushed to the hospital.
- Do you know who’s stolen your car?
- Whose been using my toothbrush?
Answers: 1- whose, 2- who’s, 3- whose, 4- whose, 5- who’s, 6- whose, 7-whose, 8- whose, 9- who’s, 10- who’s
Difference Between Who’s and Whose
Grammatical Function
Who’s is a contraction of who is or who has.
Whose is a possessive pronoun or determiner.
Structure
Who’s is made up of an interrogative form and a verb.
Whose is the possessive form of who.
Conjunction
Who’s cannot act as a conjunction.
Whose can act as a conjunction.
