{"id":728,"date":"2021-11-29T20:10:52","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T20:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twfstaging.com\/blog\/?p=728"},"modified":"2022-11-16T15:48:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T15:48:15","slug":"how-to-use-there-their-and-theyre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/how-to-use-there-their-and-theyre\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use There, Their, and They’re."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s one of the most common questions in the English language: how do you know when to use there, their, <\/strong>or they\u2019re? <\/strong>Though it may seem like a simple thing, it can be important. Grammatical correctness is one of the first things a potential employer or professor will evaluate you on. Even the most incredible essay or cover letter can be dismissed over a simple mix-up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, their <\/strong>and they\u2019re <\/strong>are homophones<\/a>, meaning they sound the same but have different meanings. There are lots of different homophones in the English language, including \u2018eye\u2019 and \u2018I\u2019, \u2018brake\u2019 and \u2018break\u2019, and \u2018heal\u2019 and \u2018heel.\u2019 It\u2019s very easy to get homophones mixed up, especially for kids or people learning English as a second language. Below, we\u2019ll explain the different meanings and uses of there, their <\/strong>and they\u2019re. <\/strong>Then, we\u2019ll give you some tips on how to to remember when to use them, and exercises so you can practice your new skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use There (With Examples)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2018There\u2019 is used to identify the location<\/a> of a person or thing. For instance, one might say, \u201cWe went to Ohio and stayed there for a week,\u201d or \u201cThe professor was sitting over there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that \u2018there\u2019 is not just used to identify physical locations, but also as a more abstract marker. For instance, when someone gets an answer correct, you might say, \u201cThere you go!\u201d Or when describing someone writing, you might say, \u201cShe wrote three pages and then stopped there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheat Sheet: <\/strong>When using the word \u2018there\u2019, remember \u2018here\u2019. Both words are used to mark locations, and are spelled very similarly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use Their (With Examples)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Their\u2019 is the possessive form of \u2018they\u2019. In the same way that \u2018his\u2019 is used to attribute objects or things to \u2018he\u2019, \u2018their\u2019 is used to attribute objects or things to \u2018they.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, one might say, \u201cThe group lost their shoes by the river,\u201d or \u201cThe dogs ate their dinner in five seconds flat.\u201d \u2018Their\u2019 can also be used as a singular possessive, especially for someone whose gender is indeterminate. For example, you might say, \u201cThe doctor saw their patients regularly,\u201d or \u2018The kid wore their shirt backwards to school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheat Sheet: <\/strong>When using the word \u2018their,\u2019 remember \u2018I\u2019. Both words mark possession and ownership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use They\u2019re (With Examples)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2018They\u2019re\u2019 is a conjunction of the two words \u2018they are\u2019 or \u2018they were.\u2019 Any time you use the word \u2018they\u2019re,\u2019 you should be able to substitute the words \u2018they are\u2019 or \u2018they were\u2019 in its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you might say \u201cThey\u2019re going to the park,\u201d or \u201cThey said they\u2019re not interested in buying any Halloween costumes.\u201d It can also be used for objects, such as \u201cThey\u2019re both interesting movies,\u201d or \u201cThey\u2019re not the greatest shoes I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheat Sheet: <\/strong>When using \u2018they\u2019re\u2019, remember \u2018they are.\u2019 Just substitute out \u2018they\u2019re\u2019 for \u2018they are\u2019 to test your usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice Exercises For How to Use There Their They’re<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the best way to make sure you\u2019ve got the there, their, they\u2019re distinction down is to practice using the three different words. You can start with our list of exercises. Test yourself by trying to plug the correct missing word into the blank. Then, once you\u2019re done, check the answer key below to see how many you got correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The girls drank ___ coffee in Starbucks, then went for a walk.<\/li>
  2. They said ____ going on a trip to Thailand this fall.<\/li>
  3. ____ daughter wants to go to Stanford.<\/li>
  4. I saw a squirrel on the bench over ___.<\/li>
  5. I heard ____ mom was sick.<\/li>
  6. _____ really great at what they do.<\/li>
  7. I wanted to go ___ on <\/li>
  8. vacation.<\/li>
  9. \u201cOh, ___ you are!\u201d he said.<\/li>
  10. _____ going to flip when they hear this.<\/li>
  11. I don\u2019t know who told them ____ cupcakes were bad.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Answer Key<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Their<\/em>. 2. They\u2019re<\/em>. 3. Their<\/em>. 4. There<\/em>. 5. Their<\/em>. 6. They\u2019re<\/em>. 7. There<\/em>. 8. There<\/em>. 9. They\u2019re<\/em>. 10. Their.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Find more practice questions here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Feedback<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Was this blog post helpful for you? Do you still have questions about there, their and they\u2019re, or do you have questions about other homophones or commonly mixed-up words? Let us know and we might be able to create a post about it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s one of the most common questions in the English language: how do you know when to use there, their,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-grammar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1415,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions\/1415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewordfinder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}