Explaining relative clauses with ‘whose’ - E4-05W

Comparing ‘whose’ to ‘which’ and ‘who’

 

Look at these two pairs of sentences:

A. Yesterday I bought a beautiful old carpet. It was hand made in Afghanistan.

B. Yesterday I bought a beautiful old carpet. Its patterns reminded me of certain modern abstract paintings.

 

In A, we are making two statements about the same object/thing: a carpet.

I) I bought it….            2) It was hand made….

 

We can combine these two into one sentence using the relative pronoun which:

 

A. Yesterday I bought a beautiful old carpet, which was hand made in Afghanistan.

 

In B, the first statement is about the carpet

1)     I bought it…….

The second is about its patterns (the patterns of the carpet).

2)     Its patterns reminded me…………

 

To join two statements of this kind, we use whose:

 

B. Yesterday I bought a beautiful old carpet whose patterns reminded me of certain modern abstract paintings.

 

C         Last week I went to visit my aunt. She lives by herself with nineteen cats.

 

D         Last week I went to visit my aunt. Her house is like a hostel for homeless cats.

 

This time, we begin (C) with two statements about the same person: my aunt.

1)     I went to visit her………

2)     She lives by herself…….

 

We combine these into one sentence using the relative pronoun who:

 

C. Last week I went to visit my aunt, who lives by herself with nineteen cats.

 

In D, the first statement is about my aunt

1)       I went to visit her

The second is about her house (the house of my aunt)

2)       Her house is like……..

 

Once again, we join these two statements using whose, as in B:

 

D. Last week I went to visit my aunt, whose house is like a hostel for homeless cats.

 

Summary: Whose is used to talk both about the possessive relation to a thing: the carpet – its patterns; and to a person: my aunt – her house

 

 

Two types of clause with whose (see E5-03W)

 

Finally, as with ‘who’ and ‘which’ relative clauses, relative clauses with ‘whose’ may be 1) identifying –

 

E. This is a photo of my cousin Jack. His mother died in a car accident.

F.  My cousin Jack spent every boyhood holiday at our house. His mother died in a car accident.

 

E. This is a photo of my cousin Jack, whose mother died in a car accident.

F. My cousin Jack, whose mother died in a car accident, spent every boyhood holiday at our house.

 

2) non-identifying –

 

G. The police are looking for someone. This person’s fingerprints are on the cup.

H. We need to hire a van. Its carrying capacity is at least one ton

 

G. The police are looking for the person whose fingerprints are on the cup.

H. We need to hire a van whose carrying capacity is at least one ton.

 

 

Practice

Now put these pairs of sentences together (scroll down for answers).

 

J. My favourite film star is Gloria Graham. Her hair is long, straight and blonde.

 

K. Gloria Graham tried to commit suicide yesterday. Her hair is the envy of every teenage girl in America.

 

L. My mother knows someone. This person’s daughter was at school with Gloria Graham.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. My favourite film star is Gloria Graham, whose hair is long, straight and blonde.

 

K. Gloria Graham, whose hair is the envy of every teenage girl in America, tried to commit suicide yesterday.

 

L. My mother knows someone whose daughter was at school with Gloria Graham.