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博客 / Their, There, They're: 30 Real Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Their, There, They're: 30 Real Mistakes and How to Fix Them
"Their," "there," and "they're" sound exactly the same, so the ear is no help, and a spell checker is no help either, because all three are real words. Every example below is a real sentence that someone pasted into Proofread Bot over the years. The examples are grouped by the type of mix-up, because once you know which direction you tend to slip in, the error becomes much easier to catch.
The corrections are written in formal, academic English, so contractions are spelled out in full. Where the contracted form is common in everyday writing, it is shown underneath as the informal version.
The short version
- There refers to a place ("over there") or begins the construction "there is / there are." It contains the word here, which is also a place.
- Their means "belonging to them": their car, their fault. It contains heir, someone who owns things.
- They're is the contraction of "they are." In academic writing, write "they are" in full. "They're" is acceptable in emails, messages, and other informal text.
1. "Their" used for a place
This is the most common mix-up in our collection, by a wide margin. If the word answers the question "where?", it must be there.
✓ The children are over there.
✓ Pam put the chair over there.
✓ I want to get there by tomorrow morning.
✓ It is over there!
Informal: It's over there!
✓ She lives over there.
Test: replace the word with "here." "The children are over here" makes sense, so the correct word is there.
2. "Their" at the start of "there is / there are"
In a sentence such as "There is a dog," the word there does not point anywhere. It simply announces that something exists. It is still spelled there.
✓ There was a dog in the forest.
✓ There are four birds.
✓ There is my shoe.
✓ There she stands, looking into the sea.
The last example contains a second homophone error (see for sea). This is typical: writers who confuse one pair of sound-alike words often confuse others in the same sentence.
3. "There" used for ownership
When something belongs to a group of people, the correct word is their.
✓ That is their dog.
✓ It was their fault.
✓ The children wanted to play with their dog.
✓ Their homework is always late.
✓ Where are their shoes?
Test: replace the word with "our." "It was our fault" makes sense, so the correct word is their.
4. "They're" used for ownership
This error looks more careful because of the apostrophe, but it is equally wrong. Expanding the contraction makes the problem obvious.
✓ Their cat is black.
✓ What is their name?
✓ I am going over to their house.
✓ That is not their cat.
Test: read the word as "they are." "They are cat is black" is meaningless, so the word cannot be they're.
5. "Their" or "there" where "they are" is meant
✓ They are very good at soccer.
Informal: They're really good at soccer.
✓ They are going to the store.
Informal: They're going to the store.
✓ I cannot believe they are doing that!
Informal: I can't believe they're doing that!
✓ They are wrong about that.
Informal: They're wrong about that.
✓ That couple is always together because they are in love.
Informal: …because they're in love.
A useful signal: if the next word is a verb ending in -ing ("going," "doing," "eating") or an adjective ("good," "wrong," "busy"), the intended meaning is almost certainly "they are."
6. Two errors in one sentence
These examples are worth studying, because they show how easily the words trade places.
✓ They are swimming over there.
Informal: They're swimming over there.
✓ They are over there.
Informal: They're over there.
✓ The man softly said, "There, there, do not be afraid."
Informal: "There, there, don't be afraid."
✓ It is their story.
Informal: It's their story.
"There, there" is a fixed phrase used to comfort someone. It has nothing to do with place or ownership, but it is always spelled there. In fiction, dialogue normally keeps its contractions, since that is how people speak; the formal version above simply shows the full form.
7. The lookalikes: theirs, there's, and "thier"
✓ That pencil is theirs.
✓ There is a dog running across the street.
Informal: There's a dog running across the street.
✓ They got their cake.
- Theirs never takes an apostrophe, just like ours, yours, and hers.
- There's is the contraction of "there is" or "there has." In formal writing, use the full form.
- Their is spelled e before i, one of the best-known exceptions to the "i before e" rule.
The quick check
When in doubt, try each replacement in order:
- Does "they are" fit? Write they are (or they're in informal text).
- Does "our" fit? Write their.
- Otherwise, it refers to a place or begins "there is/are." Write there.
Why these errors survive proofreading
Most writers who make these mistakes know the rule perfectly well. The slip happens when typing quickly: the fingers spell the sound rather than the meaning, and on rereading, the brain sees the word that was intended. This is precisely the kind of error that a proofreading tool catches more reliably than a tired human reader. Paste your text into Proofread Bot and it will flag each their/there/they're confusion, identify the correct word, and point out contractions that are too informal for academic writing.