Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime
When should one use "whose" and when "who's" ?
'This is Pete, who's coming with us." Correct?
"Whose is this coat?" Correct?
Or not? Can anyone give me a definitive rule please?
Comments
That might help you.
What you have written is correct. who is coming with us - you've contracted it to who's coming with us = I think that's OK
The coat thing: I would put - to whom does this coat belong? (whose is this coat - sounds a bit ungrammatical but can't explain why)
Sorry, working, so no time to elaborate.
It's = it is, who's = who is.
its = belonging to it, whose = belonging to whom.
I understand it's and its.
It's whose and who's that bugs me - and sometimes in dialogue one isn't as posh as to say "to whom"
Think I've got it now thanks - the apostrophe stands for something missing,
Jeeves?
Nothing wrong with it, but if you're really unhappy you could change it to "Whose coat is this?".
I react that way to split infinitives, and to the misuse of 'me' and 'I'.
Me and Joe went to the pub and the landlord gave him and I a free drink.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK![/quote]
What's wrong with that? I'd have been well pleased to get a free drink.
Me and Joe went to the pub and the landlord gave him and I a free drink.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! [/quote]
I know - it grates, doesn't it? I don't like hearing it, but if it suited the character you could use it (though it would choke me!)
I had the following in a book this week: 'Are one of those boats yours?'
I want a red pen option on Kindle, and I want it now! One with a hotlink to the author - obviously non-returnable, though!
I| have no objection to split infinitives if used carefully. An artificial rule invented by a grammarian whose reasoning was "it's impossible to split an infinitive in Latin therefore you shouldn't do it in English".