Who’s Misusing Whose?

People have a lot of trouble with the word whose.

A short web cruise will turn up numerous examples of the error of writing who’s when the context calls for whose. For example:

Do any of you have favorite authors who’s books have become hard to find?
People who’s lives are manipulated by others…
What to do with a step daughter who’s behavior is out of control
When Driving A Borrowed Car: Who’s Policy Covers What?

Like it’s, who’s is a contraction. And like it’s, the misuse of who’s screams ignorance or extremely slipshod writing.

Who’s is a contraction for the words who is.

Whose is a word of many uses. Here are some examples of ways in which it may be used to stand for nouns, describe nouns, ask a question, or introduce a clause:

Whose are these keys?
Whose dog is this?
Don’t forget whose son you are.
He found a laptop and wondered whose it was.
That’s the race horse whose winnings made Jones a millionaire.
Don’t delay the passengers whose passports have already been stamped.

NOTE: When the antecedent is inanimate, whose may be replaced by of which:

The new car, the luxury of which impressed everyone, is a domestic make.

However, since the by which construction often produces what the OED calls “an intolerably clumsy form,” whose is often used for inanimate antecedents as well: This is the cottage whose shutters and thatched roof so delight me.

Because We don’t like to leave egregious errors floating in people’s minds, here are the corrected sentences:

Do any of you have favorite authors whose books have become hard to find?
People whose lives are manipulated by others…
What to do with a step-daughter whose behavior is out of control
When Driving A Borrowed Car: Whose Policy Covers What?