Who vs. Whose

interrogative pronouns relative pronouns who whose

What Are Their Main Differences?

'Who' and 'whose' are misunderstood a lot in the English Language. Because both 'who' and 'whose' ask for information about a person or people. The important thing to know is that the main difference between them relies on what they refer to. 'whose' is the possessive form of 'who'.

Differences

What 'Who' and 'Whose' Request for

'Who' and 'whose':

'Whose' is used to indicate that the following noun belongs to or is associated with the person or thing mentioned in the previous clause. 'Who' is used primarily to refer to people.

Whose scarf are you wearing? It looks awful on you.

Who was the first man that stepped on the moon?

Erik, whose friend was the leader , is the smartest boy in the whole universe.

My cousin, who was trying to learn swimming, is the black sheep of our family.

'Whose' and 'Who' as Determiners or Pronouns

'Who' and 'whose':

As it was mentioned earlier, 'whose' is used as the possessive form of who, It can be either a determiner or a pronoun. 'Who' is a pronoun that is not followed by a noun. So, it is never considered a determiner.

Who spoke to the teacher? → pronoun

Whose kitten scratched my dog? → determiner

Whose are these shiny dresses? → pronoun

Similarities

'Who' and 'Whose' Relative Pronouns

'Who' and 'whose':

are used as relative pronouns in relative clauses to connect them. There are two types of relative clauses, restrictive (essential) and non-restrictive (non-essential) clauses.

	Restrictive clauses	non-restrictive clauses
Who	✓	✓
Whose	✓	✓

I would rather have only one friend who is actually loyal to me.

The cook, who is a bold woman, cooks delicious steaks.

The girl whose cellphone was rubbed is the leader of the group. Now we have lost our way.

The farmer, whose farm was burnt last year, was selling the cows.

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