There, their, and they're | Frequently confused words | Usage | Grammar

Hello Grim Marians! Today, I want to talk about one of the absolute thorniest issues in usage of English, and it's the difference between "there," "their," and "they're." If you can't tell the difference from the way I'm saying it, that's because it's really confusing and evil. Um, and that is why I'm here—to help you make a distinction between these three sound-alike words.

Now, first of all, we have "there" (t h e r e), which we're going to use orange for. It is an adverb and an adjective, and it's used to signify where something is. So, the way to remember that this one is all about location is just to take the T and replace it with a W. The question is: where? The answer is "there."

So, have you been to Greece? Yes, I went there. I have not gone there. Have you seen my dog? Yes, there's my dog. So, you asked the question: where did you go? I went there. Where is my dog? There is my dog. Technically, this is an adverbial use; here, "there" is modifying "went," and here is an adjectival use, uh, because "there" is modifying "dog."

The second member of this confusing trio is "their" (t h e i r), which is a possessive determiner. Let's just call that a possessive. This is when something belongs to a they, and it's an adjective. So, let's just call this a possessive adjective. For example, Sue and Fred ate their ice cream cones. So, "their" (t h e i r) the possessive answers the question: who does that belong to?

So, rounding out our trio, the last member of the "there there there" writers of the Apocalypse is "they're" (t h e y apostrophe r e), which is a contraction of "they are." So, anywhere you would want to say "they are," you can smoosh that together and say "they're."

So, hey kid, are your parents home? No, they're not home right now. Can I take a message? So you can see, in this sentence, "they're not home right now." Can I take a message? "There" (t h e y apostrophe r e) is replacing "they are." Both of these things would work equally well in the sentence. They're both grammatical; one's just shorter. As we know, English, as with most languages, likes to take the easy route—um, finding the shortest possible or most efficient option, if you prefer.

So, as a writer and speaker of English, you're going to come across this situation a lot. Which one of these things do you use? Uh, and so when you come across this thorny little issue, do I use "there," "their," or "they're"? You have to ask yourself a series of questions.

Question number one: does it answer the question, where is it? If so, use t h e r e. Uh, if the use answers the question, who does it belong to, then you use t h e i r. If what you're trying to say is a contraction of "they are," then what you're looking for is t h e y apostrophe r e.

I know it's confusing, but you can learn anything. David out.