- There means the opposite of here; “at that place.”
- Their means “belongs to them.”
- They’re is a contraction of “they are” or “they were.”
There, their, and they’re are the big trio of commonly confused words. All three of them are pronounced the same, and the spelling differences don’t seem to do a good job of stopping people from mixing them up.
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What Does There Mean?
There can be used in a couple of ways. As an adverb, there is the exact opposite of the word here and means “at that place”:
He asked me to go there
and check on his fish while he’s away.
There is also often used as a pronoun. In that case, its role is usually to introduce a word or a clause:
There
is something strange going on with Sydney today.
What Does Their Mean?
Their is the third-person plural possessive pronoun:
All of those kids with their
contagious laughter really made my day.
They didn’t want to see all of their
hard work go to waste.
What Does They’re Mean?
They’re is what you get when you contract “they are” or “they were.” It’s the same kind of thing that happens when you contract “we are” into “we’re,” or “you are” into “you’re”:
They’re
going to a party tomorrow.
You should meet my work friends; they’re
a real hoot.
Examples
There
is, however, one way to save this policy.
There
are lots of ads that encourage you to buy things at stores or eat at restaurants, but how many actually encourage you to physically go there
at that exact moment?
Here are some of their
own stories, their
experiences at the camp and their
reasons for joining the protest — in their
own words.
This act of sportsmanship and brotherhood had a profound effect on a nation that already adored them for their
talent and toughness.
This time, it’s about an alleged issue with subscribers—suddenly, they’re
disappearing.
