Their, There and They're

‘There’, 'Their’ and ‘They’re’ has confused many speakers of the English language and knowing how to use these three words correctly is an important step in learning English.

The words ‘There’ and’ Their’ are homophones, two words that are spelt differently but pronounced the same. It is a common mistake to replace one for the other. ‘There’ will always refer to a place, whether concrete or abstract whereas ‘Their’ shows belonging or possession.

Let’s look at these examples:

How can anyone live there, let’s go there, there will be a party tomorrow etc.

Let us buy their car, let’s us not go to their house, return their books tomorrow etc.

They are sitting there in their car.

In this sentence, notice how ‘there’ is used to signify a place whereas ‘their’ is used to show possession. The word ‘they’re’ is a contraction of the word they and are and should not be confused with their and there.

Let’s look at these examples:

They are nice people becomes they’re nice people.

They are going to lead the group becomes they’re going to lead the group.

To avoid confusion, replace the word ‘there’ with ‘here’, ‘ their’ with ‘our’ and ‘they’re’ with ‘they are’. If the sentence makes sense, you’ve got it right. Consider these:

Their house is small, our house is small.

We will meet you there, we will meet you here.

They’re going home, they are going home.