Whose book is this vs. whose is this book

[babyblue]

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

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

Please let me know how do these two sound respectively.

[Alan]

Hi babyblue,

Whose book is this? sounds better simply because the listener knows the topic (ownership of the book) immediately but Whose is this book? is all right. The same applies to your other two sentences

Alan
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