Laxi Dictionary

English Dictionary

Define dictionary terms easily in our powerful online English dictionary.

Searching for...

No matching words found

Try a different search term or browse the dictionary

Definition whose in British English

whose determiner, pronoun

determiner, pronoun
/huːz/

Whose can be used in the following ways:

as a determiner (introducing a direct or indirect question): Whose idea was it to come here? (introducing a relative clause): The winner was a Brazilian player, whose name I have forgotten.

as a question pronoun: Whose is this jacket?

Whose should not be confused with ‘who’s’, which is the short form of ‘who is’ or ‘who has’.

1

used for showing that someone or something belongs to or is connected with the person or thing that you have just mentioned

Example

Help is needed for families whose homes were destroyed in the bombing.

Example

Haig led the British army, under whose command the Commonwealth forces also fought.

Example

They live in a house whose roof could collapse at any time.

Synonyms and related words
a a certain an
2

used for asking who someone or something belongs to or who they are connected with

Example

Whose fault is it that we are losing all this money?

Example

What about these glasses? Whose are they?

Example

Whose little girl is she?

Synonyms and related words
a a certain an
2.1

used when someone knows or says who someone or something belongs to or who they are connected with

Example

I've found a bunch of keys, but I don't know whose they are.

Example

He wouldn't say whose names were on the list.

Synonyms and related words
a a certain an
Definition whose in British English