I think I must be bass ackwards when it comes to this one... In the following sentences which would you use? Whose or Who's? _______ bike is on the sidewalk? I was speaking with Sarah, ________ the accountant.
Whose means 'of which person'. Who's means 'who is' or 'who has'. Edit: Hey, welcome to the supporter group!
Yup, Garm is correct. Don't fret none, though. That little pair stumps me from time to time as well. I know where they go, but sometimes they just looks wrong. And, welcome!
just remember that those contractions [words with an ' ] are really two words stuck together... so, when wondering which form to use, take the contraction apart, like gar did above, and you should easily see which version makes sense and which doesn't...
True, but.... I understand where the momentary confusion can come into play. The 's, outside of the pronouns, indicates the possessive (genitive case) as well.
This is why I never contract who is or who has. I feel it saves confusion even though the usage should be apparent if the sentence is constructed properly. Take the above example for reference: I was speaking with Sarah, who is the accountant. I was speaking with Sarah, who has the accountant. If this is contracted, it could mean one of two things. Could be identifying Sarah as the accountant, or that Sarah has the accountant. It's easier to say 'who is' or 'who has' imo.
Whether who's means who is or who has is almost always very clear in context. I was speaking with Sarah, ________ the accountant. In this case, you could say who has, but you would never contract it. The who has contraction is almost always used as part of a verb phrase: Who's had measles as a child? Who's seen the latest Batman movie? So there's no need to shy away from the contraction. There's rarely, if ever, any ambiguity in its use.
