Homophones

(words that sound alike but have different meaning and usage)
Who’s vs. Whose
Who’s
- a contraction of two words: who is or who has (therefore, use who’s when you mean who is
or who has)
- usually (but not always) comes before a verb
- can be used in questions or statements
Examples of questions and sentences using who’s as in who is:
Who’s the humongous creature chasing its prey on two powerful legs? (Who’s comes b4 ??)
= Who is the humongous creature chasing its prey on two powerful legs?
Who’s chasing its prey on two powerful legs? (Who’s come before a verb)
= Who is chasing its prey on two powerful legs?
It’s the dinosaur who’s chasing its prey. (can also be used in a sentence)
It’s me who’s being chased by the dinosaur.
Examples of questions and statements using who’s as in who has.
Who’s been eating all my food?
It’s the monkey who’s been eating all my food.
Who’s been sitting under that tree?
It’s the monkey who’s been sitting under that tree.
________________________________________________________________
Whose
- possessive form of the pronoun who or which
- is defined as belonging to or associated with that person or in animated object.
- usually (but not always) appears before a noun.

Examples of questions and statements using whose.

Whose baby is left in the park?
Whose food is that baby eating?
I would like to see the baby whose mother left him in the park.
The mother whose baby was left in the park came back for him.

Examples of who’s and whose.

The boy, who’s doing a difficult stunt, vows the crowd with an impossible flip.
The boy, whose stunt was difficult to do, vows the crowd after he finished it.

In general, you should use who’s if you can substitute the word with who is or who has without
changing its meaning.
The different uses of these words is illustrated by the following pair of sentences:

Bob, who's normally prompt, was late today.

Bob, whose record is exemplary, was late today.

Who’s is a contraction of who is or who has. Whose is the possessive form of who or which. Think of it this way: If you were to
replace it with who is or who has, would its meaning change? If no, you want who’s. If yes, you want whose.

Whose and inanimate objects

As in that last example above, whose—unlike who or who’s—may apply to inanimate objects or other non-person entities. For
example, while you wouldn’t say, “The book, who is 500 pages, was released in 1923,” you could say, “The book, whose 500 pages
fly by, was released in 1923.” This odd tendency arises out of the fact that there is no equivalent word in English that’s strictly for
inanimate objects.

What does whose mean? Whose is the possessive form of the pronoun who and is defined as belonging to or associated with which
person. When used in a sentence, it usually (but not always) appears before a noun. For example,

 Whose turn is it to move?

o In this example, whose appears before the noun turn. Whose is acting as an interrogative pronoun.

 He’s a gambler and maneuverer whose bold moves are not testaments to vision or cojones but to the unhealthiness of his
domestic political situation. –The Wall Street Journal
o In this WSJ example, whose appears before the adjective bold, which is describing the noun moves. Whose is acting as
a relative pronoun.

 Whose car is this?

o In this example, whose appears before the noun car. Whose is acting again as an interrogative pronoun.

Whose functions the same way that other possessive pronouns work like its and yours. If you know what makes its and it’s different,
you know what makes whose and who’s different.