- This is the dog which I mentioned. Isn’t he a fine fellow?
- We have one cow which we prize highly. She is a Jersey.
2. The possessive whose may be used of any object that has life.
- This is the man whose watch was stolen.
- I have a cat whose name is Tabby.
- This is the tree whose leaves were destroyed. It is quite dead.
3. In the case of things without animal life, of which and whose are both common. The tendency is to prefer of which in prose, but whose is often used because of its more agreeable sound. In poetry, whose is especially frequent.
- A broad river, the name of which I have forgotten, forms the northern boundary of the province.
- Jack was fishing with a bamboo rod, to the end of which he had tied a short piece of ordinary twine.
- She was gazing into the pool, whose calm surface reflected her features like a mirror. [“The surface of which” would not sound so well.]
Note. In older English, which is often used for who or whom: as,—“He which hath your noble father slain, pursued my life” (Hamlet).
The compounds whereof, wherefrom, wherewith, etc., are equivalent to of which, from which, etc. (cf. [§ 124]). Thus,—“Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him” (Genesis xxvii. 41).
DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVES
153. The clause introduced by a relative pronoun is an adjective clause, since it serves as an adjective modifier of the antecedent ([§ 143]). There are two different ways in which the antecedent may be thus modified.
- 1. The Italian, who wore a flower in his coat, smiled at me.
- 2. The Italian who wore a flower in his coat smiled at me.