They're, Their, or There?

They're, their, and there sound the same, so it’s only natural to have a bit of trouble with them. But those three words mean such different things, so it’s essential knowledge for any writer to be able to distinguish them from one another. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to recognize the difference between them.

They’re

This has an apostrophe, so following the rule from How to Write Contractions Properly, you should be able to deduce that “they’re” means “they are”, which is a form of the verb “to be”. Because this is the only word that has an apostrophe, you can straight away pick it out from the other two. If there’s an apostrophe, expand it and see what it means.

They’re going to the swimming pool is the same as they are going to the swimming pool.

They’re diving into the pool now is the same as they are diving into the pool now.

Their

“Their” is the possessive word. It shows that “they” own something.

Their swimming pool is huge!

They brought their bikinis.

There

This word shows location, which is quite easy to recognize. People tend to not get confused about this word as much as the other two, but that’s not to say it never happens.

There is the swimming pool.

The pool is over there.

Take an extra second to think about these three words when you’re writing them, and soon it will become super easy to tell them apart! All it takes is a bit of practice! If you have any other grammar points you’d like cleared up, leave a comment!