Commonly Confused Words Whose and Whos

The words whose and whos  are  homophones. Although they sound alike and both are related to the pronoun who, they have different functions. Definitions Whose is the possessive form of the pronoun who (as in Whose books are these?). Whos is the contraction of who is (as in Whos coming with me?). Examples Whose turn is it to drive? Whos driving tomorrow?When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: Whose?(Don Marquis)A parade is an extraordinary spectacle whose whole purpose is to display itself.(Margaret Visser, The Way We Are. HarperCollins, 1994)The enemy is anybody whos going to get you killed, no matter which side hes on.(Joseph Heller) Usage Notes This one is quite hard to forgive as its so easy to check: just replace whose or whos by the full-length version, i.e. who is. If this makes sense in the context, then you can use whos if you wish. If it doesnt make sense, then the right spelling is whose.(Philip Gooden, Whos Whose: A No-Nonsense Guide to Easily Confused Words. Walker Company, 2004)Contrary to certain opinions, there is no difficulty at all in using whose with reference to things. It is perfectly normal in standard English to write sentences like the following: The plane, whose pilot had safely ejected, crashed into the woods . . .. Of course, you should always consider whether the alternative of which might give you a more elegant result.(R.L. Trask, Mind the Gaffe! Harper, 2006) Practice (a) _____ car was damaged?(b) _____ going to pay for repairs?(c) Fen gazed at her with something of the triumphant and sentimental pride of a dog owner _____ pet has succeeded in balancing a biscuit on its nose.(Edmund Crispin, The Case of the Gilded Fly, 1944) Answers (a)  Whose  car was damaged?(b)  Whos  going to pay for repairs?(c) Fen gazed at her with something of the triumphant and sentimental pride of a dog owner  whose  pet has succeeded in balancing a biscuit on its nose.(Edmund Crispin,  The Case of the Gilded Fly, 1944)