Whose... why not?

Posted by Smokey Stover on November 27, 2003

In Reply to: Whose... why not? posted by Henry on November 26, 2003

: : : : There are many instances such as:

: : : : The Hawai'i Convention Center is a world-class facility WHICH PURPOSE is to draw
: : : : new dollars into the economy and to increase tax revenues for the State...

: : : : in which which seem to mean whose. can anyone explain to why.

: : : That's just incorrect.

: : : : The Hawai'i Convention Center is a world-class facility constructed for the purpose of drawing
: : : new dollars into the economy and increasing tax revenues for the State... Or

: : : : The Hawai'i Convention Center is a world-class facility constructed to draw new dollars into the economy and to increase tax revenues for the State...

: : : Or possibly " . . . of which the purpose is to ..."

: Or simply 'whose'

: There's a certain tendency among some old-timers to reserve "who" and "whose" for human antecedents. Presumably "which" is the relative pronoun to be preferred with inanimate things, while "that" works well with all classes of antecedent, and especially with cats, which are neither human nor things.