Whose is this? - It's John's

1. 's and'

We use the apostrophe ( ' ) to talk about possesion:

This is Mike's house. ( = The house belongs to Mike.)

Here are the rules:

---> Singular noun ( e.g. Mary) +'s:
Where is Tom's bike?

---> Irregular plural noun ( e. g. men) + ' s:
Have you got the children's books?

---> Regular plural noun ( e. g. teachers) + ' :
We have eight children. This is the boys' bedroom, and this is the girls' bedroom.


2. We use the apostrophe for people, but not normally for things. We use of for things:
The boys' room. ( Not The room of the boys.)
The end of the film. ( Not the film's end.)

We say:

I'm going to the newsagent's, the baker's the butcher's. . . .
because we mean "the newsagent's shop/ the baker's shop/ the butcher's shop.


3. We use whose to ask about possesion:

A:Whose car is that? (= Who does that car belong to? )

B: It's John's. (= It belongs to John.)

A: Whose shoes are those?

B:They're mine. (=They belong to me.)


The word whose does not change:

Whose book is that?
Whose books are those?

We often use this, that, these and those in our questions. We often use mine, yours, his, etc. in our answers:

Whose watch is that ? --->It's Steven's.
---> It's his.

( We don't need to say: It's Steven's watch.)


4. Whose sounds the same as who's but it is different in meaning:

Whose coat is this? (= Who does this coat belong to?)
Who's coming? (=Who is coming?)
Who's finished? (=Who has finished?)