Writing Right: They’re There in Their Lair
One of the most common mistakes in English is to mix up there and their (and occasionally they’re). This is easily done since they are all pronounced alike, however this short article will help you understand the difference.
they’re = they are
e.g. they’re mad (they are mad)
Apostrophes usually (except when before an s to show possession) indicate missing letters, often letters dropped when two words are stuck together. So we have words like don’t (a contraction of do not, with the apostrophe indicating the dropped o) and they’re (they are, with the apostrophe indicating the dropped a). Because it contains an apostrophe, they’re is the easiest of the three to tell apart.
there = in / at the place indicated
e.g. He’s over there. It’s there, behind the desk.
Another use of there is simply to show that something exists e.g. there is a green hill far away. Here, the word there doesn’t mean a specific place, but rather just that the thing one is talking about exists somewhere.
their = belonging to them (belonging to a group of people)
e.g. John and Mary bought it. It’s their car now.
So all well and good, but now that I’ve told you the difference between there and their how do you actually remember it? If you read a lot, as long as what you read is well written, then it’ll sink in eventually without even trying. In the meanwhile, I tried to think of a memory trick that would help and the best I could come up with is the simple sentence I made the title of this article – a sentence that uses all three identical-sounding words in a proper but concise and memorable way. If nothing else, I hope that helps.
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August 22nd, 2012 at 8:10 am
Much needed grammar lesson.
August 22nd, 2012 at 8:49 am
Great lesson and a reminder for me
August 22nd, 2012 at 9:06 am
I agree – grammar lessons are much needed, even the best writers could use the reminders. And any trick that gets one’s brain to remember the spelling is a good thing. I wrote an article on they’re, there, and their a while ago, and my trick for remembering the i in “their” uses the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to remember that ‘their’ is possessive. When you possess something, you have to pay taxes. (The trick doesn’t work for Canadians, we’ve got Revenue Canada, but thanks to watching American TV, we are quite familiar with the IRS.)
August 22nd, 2012 at 10:52 am
I know this. Like quiet and quite or the use of the apostrophe. Isn’t it ridiculous to read on a shop sign Banana’s at 99 cents! when in fact no apostrophe is needed here. When I see things like this passing by a shop, I always ask ‘Oh, whose bananas are they?’ I read the book entitled “Eats, Shots And Leaves” on zero tolerance on bad punctuation. Funny the chapter on the use of the apostrophe. She seemed to have strolled in the streets in the US, England and Ireland to spot te wriong use of the apostrophe. Good one!
August 22nd, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Well written. Thank you.