Wessen

Wessen is a German word used to ask about possession and, in standard usage, to mean “whose.” It is the genitive form of the interrogative pronoun wer (who) and serves as a question word for questions about ownership or association. Wessen does not decline for gender or number; it remains the same whether the possessor is singular or plural and regardless of the possessed noun’s gender.

In addition to its use in questions, wessen can appear in some relative-clause constructions, but the most common and prescriptive forms in that context are dessen and deren. For masculine or neuter antecedents, the genitive relative pronoun is usually dessen; for feminine or plural antecedents, deren is used. Wessen in relative clauses is less standard and is typically avoided in formal writing in favor of dessen/deren, though it may occur in everyday speech or in older texts.

Usage guidance:

- Use wessen in questions to identify the owner of something. Example: Wessen Buch liegt auf dem Tisch? (Whose book is lying on the table?)

- In relative clauses, prefer dessen or deren to express “whose.” Examples: Der Mann, dessen Auto gestohlen wurde, kontaktierte die Polizei. Die Frau, deren Hund entlaufen war, suchte ihr Tier.

Etymology and range: Wessen comes from wer with the genitive suffix - s and is closely related to the English possessive whose. It is a standard tool in German for the possessive inquiry and remains a recognizable marker of possession in both spoken and written German.

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