• 2-minute read
• 27th March 2013

Word Choice: Whose vs. Who’s

It can be easy to mix up ‘whose’ and ‘who’s’ when writing. They sound exactly the same when spoken, and they look similar as well. However, these words express different things, so careful attention to word choice is required for clarity. A simple explanation of when these terms should be used follows.

Whose (Possessive Determiner)

‘Whose’ is the possessive form of ‘who’. It is mostly used in questions:

• Whose car is this?
• Do you know whose coffee that is?
• Whose team are you on?

However, it can also be used when referring to something that belongs to someone. For example:

Stay away from the man whose hair is on fire.

Who’s (Short for ‘Who Is’ or ‘Who Has’)

‘Who’s’ is a contraction – a shortened version of two words – of ‘who is’ or ‘who has’. It is also common to see this term in questions:

Do you know who’s marking the exams?

But it can also be used when referring to someone in general:

Beware the man who’s setting fire to his hair.

As with other contractions, ‘who’s’ should not be used in formal writing.

The Difference

The confusion between ‘whose’ and ‘who’s’ comes from the fact that apostrophes are also used to indicate possession. For example, if a car belongs to John, it is ‘John’s car’.

However, in the case of ‘who’s’ the apostrophe does not indicate possession. It just indicates a missing or letters. Remember:

Whose = Possessive

Who’s = Short for ‘who is’ or ‘who has’

If you are still not sure if you have used the right words in your essay, the team at Proofread My Essay can help. We provide a professional service covering word choice, grammar, spelling, referencing and even formatting! So if you want to be sure your work is correct, submit it for proofreading today.