ABCcount

there vs. their

English has three of these that sound alike, and two of them cause most of the trouble. "There" and "their" get swapped constantly in email and chat, and unlike most spelling slips this one gets noticed — it is the error people quietly judge. The good news is that each word contains a smaller word that gives it away, and once you see that you stop having to think about it.

there

An adverb of place, or the word that starts a sentence about existence: "there is," "there are."

  • Leave the folder over there.
  • There are four people waiting in reception.
  • We drove there on Sunday and came back the same night.
  • There, there — that's enough. (Here it is doing neither job, which is a reminder that the "place" rule is a guide rather than a law.)

their

A possessive determiner. It marks something as belonging to a group of people already mentioned.

  • The tenants submitted their complaint in writing.
  • Their flight was delayed by six hours.
  • I read their report before the meeting.
  • Someone left their coat behind. (Singular "their" — standard English for centuries, whatever anyone tells you.)

Quick way to remember

Look for the smaller word hiding inside. "There" contains "here" — both are about place. "Their" contains "heir" — and an heir inherits, which is possession. The third one, "they're," is just "they are" squeezed together.