Whose vs Who's Exercises

Whose and who's follow the same pattern as 'its' and 'it's.' Whose (without an apostrophe) is a possessive word used in questions and relative clauses: 'Whose coat is this?' asks about ownership, and 'The woman whose car was stolen reported it to the police' describes which woman. Who's (with an apostrophe) is a short form of 'who is' or 'who has': 'Who's coming tonight?' means 'Who is coming?' and 'Who's been using my computer?' means 'Who has been using my computer?'

The same replacement test works here: try replacing the word with 'who is.' If the sentence makes sense, write who's. If it does not, write whose. 'Whose bag is this?' — can you say 'Who is bag is this?' No, so the answer is 'whose.' Many learners find whose easier than 'its' because 'whose' clearly looks like a question word. Remember that whose can refer to things as well as people: 'The building whose roof collapsed' is perfectly correct. This distinction is regularly tested in Cambridge A2 Key and B1 Preliminary examinations.