1M dollar question: whose or which for plural innanimates?

[arly]

I've been dying to know the correct answer. Never know which to use in my thesis.

Help please.

Here's an example:

The tree whose leaves were falling died.

or

The tree which leaves were falling died.

[Kondorosi]

I've been dying to know the correct answer. Never know which to use in my thesis.

Help please.

Here's an example:

The tree whose leaves were falling died.

or

The tree which leaves were falling died.

The second sentence is ungrammatical. Some grammars object to the use of 'whose' with inanimate nouns. You can use this:

The trees the leaves of which were falling died.

[Barb_D]

I don't object to "whose" either but if you felt odd about it: The tree that was losing its leaves died.

[Tdol]

Whose is fine to me.

[Raymott]

I'll go "whose" too if you're dividing up the cheque. (But I think the answer is over-valued).