Their, They're, There (Word Usage)

Their, They're, There

Another group of words commonly confused because they are homonyms is the trio "their," "they're," and "there." Unlike some of the other examples we have seen so far in this series, all three of these items are routinely confused with one another, likely because all three are very commonly used in everyday conversation and correspondence, and because none of them has a meaning that makes it stand clearly out from the others in such an obvious way as, for example, "two" stands out from "too" and "to." However, by remembering a few simple facts about each of the three forms of the word, you will be able to distinguish the right form every time without difficulty.

Turning first to "their," it is important to remember that this word is the third person plural possessive form of the pronoun "they." That is a mouthful, but it merely means that it is used to show a that group of people owns something, as in the following example: "Their pet wolf is a danger to the community, but compared to their gun collection, the wolf seems harmless." Like the word "your" discussed in a previous article, "their" is only used to show that a group of people owns something: if you ask yourself who owns what in a given sentence where you want to use "their," and you cannot come up with an answer because no one owns anything, then "their" is the wrong form to use.

The second form of this word, "they're," again like the word "you're" from the previous article, is a shortened form of two words, also known as a contraction. Remember that the apostrophe is not only used to show possession, but also stands in place of omitted letters in most contractions. In this case, "they're" is the contraction for "they are," with the apostrophe taking the place of the space between the two words as well as the "a" in "are." Seeing the word used correctly in context will be helpful: "They're smarter than you think, and they're not going to stop until they're sure you are locked up." In each of the three uses of the word in this sentence, you can substitute "they are" in its place, and the sentence still makes sense. If you can't substitute "they are," "they're" is the wrong form for the situation.

The first two forms of the word are both based on the pronoun "they," but the third form, "there" has absolutely nothing to do with "they." Of the three forms, "there" is perhaps the most difficult to define, as some of its uses are largely empty and primarily syntactic. Most obviously, "there" is used to point to a particular place, as in the following example: "I put the keys over there, on the counter." Its other use is somewhat related, but in current usage, it is not used to point to anything specific. In the sentence "There are many ways to write a good essay," "there" is used as a "dummy" word that is required by the syntax of the sentence. There is no specific "there" place to which it refers, and so it becomes merely a placeholder in the sentence.

To figure out which form of the word to use in a given situation, apply the tests suggested here in order, and then use the form that fits. First ask yourself whether someone is in possession of something, then ask whether you can substitute "there are" in place of the word. If neither of these is applicable, "there" is the only option.