[Grammar] Which or who for inanimate object?

[dotancohen]

Is a property of an inanimate object referred to with who's or with which's? Fir example, this sentence fragment:
"...and a second drop who's mass is below the critical limit..."

Should that be reworded? The current wording seems the mot natural to me but I do not think that it is correct.

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

For a start, it would be "whose" not "who's".

 

[dotancohen]

For a start, it would be "whose" not "who's".

Terrific, thanks. What should I be reading to sharpen my skills in this regard?

 

[TheParser]

Is a property of an inanimate object referred to with who's or with which's? Fir example, this sentence fragment:
"...and a second drop who's mass is below the critical limit..."

Should that be reworded? The current wording seems the mot natural to me but I do not think that it is correct.

Thank you.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) Here is an interesting comment from Random House Webster's Unabridged

Dictionary (second edition), 2001, page 2,172:

Chicago is a city of which the attractions are many.
Chicago is a city the attractions of which are many.
Chicago is a city whose attractions are many.

The dictionary says the last sentence is definitely "more idiomatic." That is,

more "natural."

(2) Thus, "Whose" can, indeed, be used for the possessive case of which used as

an adjective.

(3) So:

...and a second drop whose mass is below the critical limit....

(4) Nevertheless, if you were writing for a very sophisticated audience, I guess that

you could write:

...and a second drop the mass of which is below the critical limit ....
...and a second drop of which the mass is below the critical limit ....

 

[dotancohen]

Thank you TheParser. The audience is very sophisticated, but not native English speakers. I think that I will be safer with the idiomatic phrasing.

Thank you.

 

[konungursvia]

Terrific, thanks. What should I be reading to sharpen my skills in this regard?

Read a lot, and cherish language, both spoken and written.

 

[dotancohen]

Read a lot, and cherish language, both spoken and written.

Thank you, I cherish and respect the language, that is quite why I ask to be sure that I don't abuse it!

I just started Atlas Shrugged, that should be a good read!