Related Searches
on Ask.com
whose
5 dictionary results for: whose
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
whose 
[hooz] Pronunciation Key
[hooz] Pronunciation Key –pronoun
| 1. | (the possessive case of who used as an adjective): Whose umbrella did I take? Whose is this one? |
| 2. | (the possessive case of which used as an adjective): a word whose meaning escapes me; an animal whose fur changes color. |
| 3. | the one or ones belonging to what person or persons: Whose painting won the third prize? |
—Usage note Sometimes the phrase of which is used as the possessive of which: Chicago is a city of which the attractions are many or Chicago is a city the attractions of which are many. The use of this phrase can often seem awkward or pretentious, whereas whose sounds more idiomatic: Chicago is a city whose attractions are many.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
who
[hoo] Pronunciation Key
[hoo] Pronunciation Key –pronoun; possessive whose; objective whom.
—Idiom
| 1. | what person or persons?: Who did it? |
| 2. | (of a person) of what character, origin, position, importance, etc.: Who does she think she is? |
| 3. | the person that or any person that (used relatively to represent a specified or implied antecedent): It was who you thought. |
| 4. | (used relatively in restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses to represent a specified antecedent, the antecedent being a person or sometimes an animal or personified thing): Any kid who wants to can learn to swim. |
| 5. | Archaic. the person or persons who. |
| 6. | as who should say, Archaic. in a manner of speaking; so to say. |
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE hwā; c. OHG hwer, Goth hwas, L quis]
] —Usage note The typical usage guide statement about the choice between who and whom says that the choice must be determined by the grammar of the clause within which this pronoun occurs. Who is the appropriate form for the subject of a sentence or clause: Who are you? The voters who elected him have not been disappointed. Whom is the objective form: Whom did you ask? To whom are we obliged for this assistance? This method of selecting the appropriate form is generally characteristic of formal writing and is usually followed in edited prose.
In most speech and writing, however, since who or whom often occurs at the beginning of the sentence or clause, there is a strong tendency to choose who no matter what its function. Even in edited prose, who occurs at least ten times as often as whom, regardless of grammatical function. Only when it directly follows a preposition is whom more likely to occur than who: Mr. Erickson is the man to whom you should address your request.
In natural informal speech, whom is quite rare. Who were you speaking to? is far more likely to occur than the “correct” To whom were you speaking? or Whom were you speaking to? However, the notion that whom is somehow more “correct” or elegant than who leads some speakers to hypercorrect uses of whom: Whom are you? The person whom is in charge has left the office. See also than.
In most speech and writing, however, since who or whom often occurs at the beginning of the sentence or clause, there is a strong tendency to choose who no matter what its function. Even in edited prose, who occurs at least ten times as often as whom, regardless of grammatical function. Only when it directly follows a preposition is whom more likely to occur than who: Mr. Erickson is the man to whom you should address your request.
In natural informal speech, whom is quite rare. Who were you speaking to? is far more likely to occur than the “correct” To whom were you speaking? or Whom were you speaking to? However, the notion that whom is somehow more “correct” or elegant than who leads some speakers to hypercorrect uses of whom: Whom are you? The person whom is in charge has left the office. See also than.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| whose
(hōōz) Pronunciation Key
adj. [Middle English whos, from Old English hwæs; see kwo- in Indo-European roots.] Usage Note: It has sometimes been claimed that whose is properly used only as the possessive form of who and thus should be restricted to animate antecedents, as in a man whose power has greatly eroded. But there is extensive literary precedent for the use of whose with inanimate antecedents, as in The play, whose style is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. In an earlier survey this example was acceptable to a large majority of the Usage Panel. Those who avoid this usage employ of which: The play, the style of which is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. But as this example demonstrates, substituting of which may produce a stilted sentence. See Usage Notes at else, which, who. |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Whose
Whose\ (h[=oo]z), pron. [OE. whos, whas, AS. hw[ae]s, gen. of hw[=a]. See Who.] The possessive case of who or which. See Who, and Which. Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. --Gen. xxiv. 23. The question whose solution I require. --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Share This:
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.