whose

American  

[hooz] / huz /

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?

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whose British  

/ huːz /

determiner

1. 1. of whom? belonging to whom? used in direct and indirect questions

      I told him whose fault it was

      whose car is this?

   2. ( as pronoun )

      whose is that?

2. of whom; belonging to whom; of which; belonging to which: used as a relative pronoun

   a house whose windows are broken

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Usage

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.

Etymology

Origin of whose

First recorded before 900; Middle English whos, early Middle English hwās; replacing hwas, Old English hwæs, genitive of interrogative pronoun hwā who

Example Sentences

Gowda - whose eye-popping collection includes rare editions of the Bible, along with books on every subject imaginable - comes from a farming family where books were a luxury.

From BBC

Ghana has long promoted its pan-African credentials - for a decade anyone whose ancestors came from Africa have been entitled to Ghanaian nationality, a policy that arguably inspired Benin to launch a similar scheme.

From BBC

There were the willing and the unwitting, including some whose names appeared primarily in emails Epstein sent to himself.

From The Wall Street Journal

Instead, it is one of some 5,800 agencies overseen by the Ministry of Culture, whose regulatory powers are far more limited.

From BBC

Yet it’s been anything but a day at the beach for online travel agencies, whose stocks have been caught up, once again, in the latest artificial-intelligence fears.

From Barron's