Who's and Whose
2024-07-20
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Mei Jen in China about the usage of two words that sound the same.
2Dear Teacher,
3I have some question(s) about the words whose and who's.
4I sometimes have confusion when I hear.
5I am not always sure what word I am hearing.
6Can you please share with me your advice?
7Thank you for writing to us Mei Jen.
8I'm happy to answer this question.
9The easiest way to know which word you are hearing is to listen for the words that follow it.
10We contract, or join together, the two words who is to make the contraction "who's."
11Often, the next word you hear after "who's" is a verb, as in these examples:
12Who's going to help us?
13Who's making all that noise?
14Who's using this computer?
15Sometimes, you will hear a prepositional phrase or a noun phrase after the contraction "who's."
16Who's in the office today?
17Who's the director of that film?
18Last, we can contract the word "who" with the verb "has."
19So, the sentence "Who has already seen this film?" sounds like this:
20Who's already seen this film?
21Now, let's look at the possessive "whose," spelled w-h-o-s-e.
22We use it to ask about who owns or has something.
23So, you should listen for a noun after the pronoun "whose," or you can listen for the adjectives "this," "that," "these," or "those."
24For example, if we see a book on a desk and we do not know who owns it, we can ask either of the following questions:
25Whose book is this?
26Whose book is that?
27You can hear the noun "book," and you can also hear the adjectives "this" and "that" at the end of the question.
28We use the word "this" if we are close to the book. If we are farther away from the book, we use the word "that."
29We use the adjectives "these" and "those" for plural things.
30Whose shoes are these?
31Whose bags are those?
32We can also place the contraction "who's" and the possessive "whose" at the beginning of a noun clause.
33The noun clause begins after the main verb of the sentence, as in these examples:
34I want to know who's going to drive the bus.
35I want to know whose idea this was.
36You can learn more about the possessive "whose," including its use in relative clauses, in this Everyday Grammar on The Mysterious Word 'Whose'.
37We hope today's lesson is helpful, Mei Jen.
38For our readers and listeners, do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
39And that's Ask a Teacher.
40I'm Andrew Smith.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Mei Jen in China about the usage of two words that sound the same. 2Question 3Dear Teacher, 4I have some question(s) about the words whose and who's. I sometimes have confusion when I hear. I am not always sure what word I am hearing. Can you please share with me your advice? 5Answer 6Thank you for writing to us Mei Jen. I'm happy to answer this question. 7The easiest way to know which word you are hearing is to listen for the words that follow it. 8Who's 9We contract, or join together, the two words who is to make the contraction "who's." Often, the next word you hear after "who's" is a verb, as in these examples: 10Who's going to help us? 11Who's making all that noise? 12Who's using this computer? 13Sometimes, you will hear a prepositional phrase or a noun phrase after the contraction "who's." 14Who's in the office today? 15Who's the director of that film? 16Last, we can contract the word "who" with the verb "has." So, the sentence "Who has already seen this film?" sounds like this: 17Who's already seen this film? 18Whose 19Now, let's look at the possessive "whose," spelled w-h-o-s-e. 20We use it to ask about who owns or has something. So, you should listen for a noun after the pronoun "whose," or you can listen for the adjectives "this," "that," "these," or "those." 21For example, if we see a book on a desk and we do not know who owns it, we can ask either of the following questions: 22Whose book is this? 23Whose book is that? 24You can hear the noun "book," and you can also hear the adjectives "this" and "that" at the end of the question. 25We use the word "this" if we are close to the book. If we are farther away from the book, we use the word "that." 26We use the adjectives "these" and "those" for plural things. 27Whose shoes are these? 28Whose bags are those? 29We can also place the contraction "who's" and the possessive "whose" at the beginning of a noun clause. The noun clause begins after the main verb of the sentence, as in these examples: 30I want to know who's going to drive the bus. 31I want to know whose idea this was. 32You can learn more about the possessive "whose," including its use in relative clauses, in this Everyday Grammar on The Mysterious Word 'Whose'. 33We hope today's lesson is helpful, Mei Jen. 34For our readers and listeners, do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. 35And that's Ask a Teacher. 36I'm Andrew Smith. 37Andrew Smith wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.