Whose mustache is cooler? Hahaha.
I've written about who's and whose before, but I've seen enough mistakes with these words lately that I thought they warranted their own blog post.
Here's the skinny:
- Who's is a contraction of the words who and is (or was, has, etc.). For example, Who's that girl? and Who's got the button? are both correct.
- Whose shows possession. I might say Whose dirty socks are on the couch? or I wonder whose idea John likes best.
If you're tempted to misuse the words, just think about whether you're using it to show possession or designate ownership. If you're not, who's is probably the right choice.
Do you misuse these words? Have you seen them misused lately?
Whose is harder for me than who's. Did you see that Adam Levine is Sexiest Man Alive? I saw it on CNN. :-)
ReplyDeleteYep, I see this misused a lot. By the way, please consider a Writing Wednesday post on the rampant misuse of apostrophes in family names and how to correctly pluralize names. With Christmas card season coming my blood pressure is already rising, seeing all those "From the Petersen's."
ReplyDeleteHaha! This is a good one. Luckily I have this one down. I struggle with apostrophes and when to use them.. not the contraction ones as much as the possession! I get "what's for dinner?" for example.. but am often confused on when else to use them properly!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great sense of humour you have, Lindsay. Great photo for a quick pick-me-up! Have a fab week, dear! xxx
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