Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joesp]

is it correct to use WHOSE when the object receiving the action of the relative clause is an inanimate object, and not a person. I can understand for example "the book which is" and also "he is the guy whose girlfriend ..." but what about "the book whose ..." ..??

specifically, while proofreading, the sentence is

[edwardcatflap]

It's perfectly acceptable in standard British English, don't know about American. Although that particular sentence sounds clumsy.

It sounds fine in something like this.

That's the car whose window was smashed

[joesp]

응 thanks. Dont' know why I can't get my head around it and WHOSE sounds clumsy, bugging me a lot this one is.

[Pyxis]

Yeah, it sounds a bit odd to me as well, but I can't say that is necessarily wrong. (An American here, if that helps.)

If I were to rewrite it so that it doesn't sound strange I'd probably go with "The present invention also provides an apparatus for producing a boiled egg wherein the positions of the yolk and the albumen have been switched."

[wuzza]

I sympathize. Proofreading for the patent office is a real pain in the neck. I did it for a year until I couldn't take any more.