yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

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


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

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.

More Articles

View All
15 Situations When You Need To Shut Up And Listen
Most people are unaware of this simple fact: the wise always listen more than they talk. Some folks out there prefer running their mouths without considering that in some situations, this is not going to help their cause. There are several reasons that hu…
15 Things You Should Know About Your Haters
Fifteen things you should know about your haters. Welcome to A Lux, the place where future billionaires come to get inspired. Hey there, A Luxers! So, we have a juicy video for you today. As you know, success and haters go hand-in-hand. In fact, a good i…
How Horses Save Humans From Snakebites
[Zac] Are you all right to grab the back end? [Derek] Uh, well, not at the moment. Not yet. Get him up. You gotta lock him in. A scratch from this species will knock you. Knock you down… Could kill you? Or… Oh definitely, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I am…
How To Apply Stoic Wisdom For Your Everyday Life
Most people don’t care to admit it, but believe us when we say life is difficult. Not acknowledging this fact will make you ignorant and in time inevitably miserable. Philosophers realized this a long time ago. In fact, philosophy was born in order to ans…
Do the ultra successful share similar characteristics?
It’s hard to say whether these ultra high net worth people, billionaires or corporate executive types, really have the same style. I think everybody has their own unique style. I think it’s part of the active negotiations; it’s just part of the game. It …
Those “Real Estate Investor Seeks Trainee” Signs: Make $120k/yr With No Experience?!
What’s up you guys? It’s Graham here. So, after posting a video the other week explaining the truth behind the “We Buy Houses Fast Cash” signs, a new question kept coming up and that was, what about the real estate investors’ “Sheiks Trainee” signs? After…