You can know the difference between there, their and they’re and still type the wrong one in an email. They sound identical, so reading the sentence aloud won’t necessarily help.
The trick is to think about what you’re trying to say. Here’s how to check each one.
They’re means “they are”
If you can replace the word with they are, use they’re:
- They’re reviewing the proposal.
- I think they’re ready.
In both examples, writing they are in full leaves the meaning unchanged. The apostrophe simply marks the missing letter.
That gives you a handy check for a sentence such as “Their coming tomorrow.” You mean “They are coming tomorrow”, so it should be “They’re coming tomorrow.”
Their shows that something belongs to someone
Use their when you’re writing about something belonging to, or connected with, the people you mean:
- The designers have sent their drawings.
- Have the authors checked their biographies?
- The neighbours have painted their front door.
It doesn’t have to be something someone physically owns. You can talk about their opinion, their appointment or their favourite song.
And their can refer to one person, too: “Each visitor should keep their ticket.”
There often tells you where
In “Leave the parcel there”, there points to a place. If you struggle to remember the spelling, notice that it contains here. The two words often answer the same question: where?
But we also use there in sentences such as:
- There is a missing page.
- There are two versions of the file.
Here, it introduces something that exists rather than pointing out its location.
Putting them together
“They’re bringing their notes over there.”
It’s a slightly contrived sentence, but it shows the difference:
- They’re bringing: they are bringing.
- Their notes: the notes belong to them.
- Over there: the place they’re taking them.
When you’re checking your own writing, start by trying they are. If that doesn’t fit, ask whether you’re talking about something belonging to someone. Those two checks will usually settle it.
Have a go
Choose there, their or they’re:
- ___ trying to convince the cat to pay rent.
- The pirates have forgotten where they parked ___ ship.
- ___ are three doughnuts over ___, and I can’t promise they’ll last.
- ___ wearing ___ best slippers to the video call.
Answers
- They’re — you mean they are trying.
- their — the ship belongs to the pirates.
- There; there — the first introduces the doughnuts; the second tells you where they are.
- They’re; their — they are wearing slippers, and the slippers belong to them.
You don’t need to remember a complicated grammar rule. Just pause over the word and check what it means in that particular sentence.