Whose is this book vs. Whos book is this

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babyblue

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Apr 29, 2005
Hi, here's my question.
Some say "whose is this book is awkard,compared with "whose book is this".(Is that really true?)

Then how about the following sentenses...
Whose book is that on the desk?
Whose is that book on the desk?

Please let me know how do these two sound respectively.
 

Mister Micawber

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.
They both sound fine to me. Perhaps the two justaposed /s/ sounds of 'whose is' makes for more difficult pronunciation.
.
 

Mister Micawber

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They both sound fine to me. Perhaps the two justaposed /s/ sounds of 'whose is' makes for more difficult pronunciation.
.
 

Casiopea

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Sep 21, 2003
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Additionally,

That it's awkward in comparison to "Whose book is that?" may have to do with structural weight. Add in "book" and the sentence's structural "weight" is no longer even:

EX: Whose is that? (even)
EX: Whose book is that? (even)
EX: Whose book is that book? (even)
EX: Whose is that book? (odd, as in opposite of even) acceptable :up:
 

babyblue

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Joined
Apr 29, 2005
So in conclusion, it seems to me that those two sentenses are both fine in terms of grammar and colloquialism as well, and what so called "structural weight" is may be negligible when we simply focus on the meaning itself.
(I thought the sentense like "Whose is this/that+Noun" was only seen in novels or the bible...)
Thanks a lot anyway.


Casiopea said:
Additionally,

That it's awkward in comparison to "Whose book is that?" may have to do with structural weight. Add in "book" and the sentence's structural "weight" is no longer even:

EX: Whose is that? (even)
EX: Whose book is that? (even)
EX: Whose book is that book? (even)
EX: Whose is that book? (odd, as in opposite of even) acceptable :up:
 
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