How to Use There, Their and They’re

English has a number of words that are quite similar, such as there , their , and they’re . Most native English speakers pronounce these words exactly the same (they are homonyms – have the same pronunciation); Therefore, it may be difficult for you to identify the right word for each context. This problem is sometimes referred to as “spelling correction”. Each spelling has a different connotation, and it is very important to have a clear, precise expression while writing, especially for business or academic writing.

Table of Contents

Choose the right word

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Re-read what you’ve written, looking at the word usage and spelling of the word you’re worried about spelling. (Of course, after the word is used, there will be more information, subject name or appropriate content.) The word chosen must be relevant to the subject or topic you cover.

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Use “there” when you want to refer to a place; compare “there” with “here” and “where”. It can be a concrete place (“over here or there by the building” (here or there next to the building) or abstract (“it must be difficult to be there in your mind”. it with your mind)). ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Compare “there are” with “here are” and “where are”. The word “there” combined with the verb “to be” such as “are” indicates the existence of something in question. ^{[2] X Research Source}

“There are antiques here.” (There are some antiques here.) “Where?” (Where is that?) “Look there.” (Look there.) “Oh, and, see here, we’ve found them!” (Oh, look, we found it!)
“Are there many of the documents stored here?” (Are there many documents stored here?) “Yes, see them here, where they are safe. Do you see where they are? Right over there!” (Yes, see here, where they’re safely kept. Do you see them? Right over there!)
“There will be a picnic here, and there is a monstrous campground over there across the river. There is one of the places where they are staying tonight.” (This will be the place for the picnic, and there’s a spooky campsite on the other side of the river. They’ll spend the night tonight at one of those places.)

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Use “their” and “theirs” to refer to possession. Compare with “heir” – inherit property as in the sentence “an heir of their uncle who had no children”. “Their” is a possessive adjective and indicates a noun that belongs to them. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

“Sam and Jan are heirs of their parents’ land and possessions as their legal heirs.” (Sam and Jan are heirs to their parents’ land and property as legal heirs.)
“Their things were broken.” (Their things were broken.) Compare this sentence with “Our things were broken.” (Some of our items were broken.) Yes, that’s the word for possession.
“I see their flowers are blooming in their garden.” (I saw flowers blooming in their garden.) “Yes, from the seeds their grandmother gave to them last fall.” (Yes, from the seeds their grandmother gave them last fall.)

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Remember that “they’re” stands for “they are”. It’s not an object, but a pronoun (used for people or things) plus the abbreviation ” ‘re” of the verb “are” (state of mind). ^{[4] X Research Sources}

“They’re my friends.” (They are my friends.) Try to see if “They are my friends” means. Yes, it still makes sense!
“I would go with you, but they’re going to take me.” (I want to go with you, but they’re coming to pick me up.) You can say “They are going to take me” to check, and the sentence will still make sense.

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Ask test questions. You should ask yourself the following questions, but they may not be true in some cases:

As for “there”, if you replace “there” with “here” or “where”, will the sentence still make sense? If yes, you have used the correct word.
As for “their”, if you replace “their” with “our” (to know if it is a possessive sentence) will the sentence still make sense?; The test question will of course be replaced by the appropriate owner. “Ours is ours, but theirs is theirs.” However, if “our” fits the context, you’ve used the right word because it’s a possessive. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
As for “they’re”, if you replace “they’re” with “they are”, will the sentence still make sense? If so, that’s the right word; otherwise, “they’re” is the wrong word.

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Identify wrong examples and learn from them. By watching other people’s word usage with a keen eye, especially when you’re helping someone re-read their writing, you’ll be more adept at identifying correct word usage and practice more on your own.

Sai: Their is no one here. (Their nobody here.)
False: Shelley wants to know if there is busy. (Shelley wants to know if it’s busy.)
False: The dogs are happily chewing on they’re bones. (The dog is happily gnawing at them as bones.)
True: I can’t believe they’re leaving their children there, alone! (I can’t believe they leave their kids home alone!)

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Practice, practice and practice! You can ask your English teacher or friend to say out loud sample sentences with one of these three words so that you can rewrite the word used in the sentence. Also, try online grammar quizzes. ^{[6] X Research Resources} Hire an English tutor if you still have difficulty using these words.

Advice

If you think “they’re” or “their” are inappropriate words, then “there” should be the word to use!
Correct spelling can help you achieve good academic results, land a good job, and become a contributor to wikiHow articles.
Turn off autocorrect in word processing programs. Many people are often subjective and forget the special rules when the computer automatically corrects the above errors.
If you’re not sure if you’re using the word “their” (their) correctly, try replacing it with “my” (mine) – the sentence should still make sense with this change. For example, “Their house is purple.” (Their house is purple.) If you replace “their” with “my”, the sentence still means: My house is purple. That way, you’ll know “their” is the right word.
For “there is” or “there are”, the correct word is always “there” – you wouldn’t say “they’re is”, “they’re are”, “their is” or “their are”.
Another hint: in the word “there” (there/there) there is the word “here”, so that is the word for place, and in the word “their” (their) there is the word “heir” ( inheritance), so it’s a word for possession.
Imagine this scenario: you see your neighbors standing outside their house, and cleaning up trash they accidentally spilled on the street. You point to them and say to a friend: “Look over there [location], they’re [they are] picking up their [possession] rubbish.” (Look over there [place], they’re cleaning up their trash [possession].)
Remember there, their and they’re according to the following rules:
- there: the word “here” is in the word “there”, so it’s a place word.
- their: the word “he” is in “their”, so it’s a person.
- they’re: the apostrophe ( ‘ ) in “they’re” helps you remember it means “they are”.
Write the abbreviations clearly. Replace “can’t” with “cannot”, “you’re” with “you are” and “they’re” with “they are”. That way, you will realize your mistakes when writing.
- “The students misplaced they’re books” will become “The students misplaced they are books”. The second sentence makes no sense; so this is a misnomer and the correct word would be “their”.

Steps

Choose the right word

Advice

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