Whose and When — Possession and Time
Practice whose (= his, her, their) and when (= then) in relative clauses, and the difference between whose and who's.
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I've got a friend ___ brother plays for a football team.
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whose
'Whose' = his / her / their. It's my friend's brother → 'a friend whose brother'. 'Who brother' is not possible.
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I'll never forget the day ___ I met your father.
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when
'The day' is a time → 'when' (= on that day). 'Where' is for places.
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That's the singer ___ new album everyone is talking about.
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whose
It's the singer's album → 'whose' (= her / his). 'Who's' means 'who is', which doesn't fit before 'new album'.
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Summer is the time of year ___ most people go on holiday.
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when
'The time of year' is a time → 'when' (= at that time). 'Which most people go on holiday' leaves 'which' with nothing to do.
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2020 was the year ___ everything changed.
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when
A year is a time → 'when'. 'Where' is for places, and 'whose' needs a noun after it.
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Is that the man ___ car was stolen last week?
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whose
His car → 'whose car'. 'Who's' sounds the same but means 'who is' — 'who is car' makes no sense.
Whose and When
Whose replaces a possessive word — his, her, its or their — and is always followed by a noun: I've got a friend whose brother plays football (her brother), Is that the man whose car was stolen? (his car). Learners who haven't yet made whose part of their active vocabulary build the meaning from two words instead, producing the girl who her father is a doctor. In writing, whose is also confused with who's, which sounds identical but means who is. When does for time what where does for place, replacing then: I'll never forget the day when I met your father, Summer is the time of year when most people go on holiday. Using where after a time noun — the day where we met — is a frequent error in speech.