Tricky Words that are Often Misused: who’s/whose

Most words simply require an apostrophe s on the end of the word to make it possessive.

Ex: The girl’s notebook. Mark’s scarf. The keyboard’s letters have worn off.

But adding an apostrophe s doesn’t work for the word “who” because “who’s” is a contraction.

 

WHO’S is the contraction of “who is” or “who has.”

Ex: Who’s there? Who’s seen it?

 

WHOSE is the possessive form of “who.”

Ex: Whose sword am I holding? Whose is this sword?

 

WHOSE is also the possessive form of “which” (when “which” is used as an adjective).

Ex: A word whose meaning is unknown. A bird whose feathers are black.

 

And WHOSE also means the one or ones belonging to a person or persons.

Ex: Whose shoes are those?