Their, There or They're?

Three words. One sound. And they trip up almost everyone — including people who've been writing for years. Why? Because your ear can't tell them apart, and a spellchecker won't help: all three are real words, correctly spelled, so nothing gets underlined in red. You have to know which one you mean. The good news is there's a quick test for each, and once you've got them, you've got them for life. Let's sort it out.

What they actually are

They sound identical, but they're three completely different words doing three different jobs:

• their — belonging to them: their house, their homework, their team.
• there — a place, or the start of there is / there are: over there; there's a problem.
• they're — short for they are: they're late again.

That's it. The whole puzzle is choosing the right one — and each has a test that decides it in about two seconds.

The tests

they're → try stretching it back out to they are. If the sentence still makes sense, you want they're.

They're bringing snacks. → They are bringing snacks. ✓ The dogs wagged they're tails? → The dogs wagged they are tails? ✗ — so it's their tails.

their → ask whose? If the answer is theirs, you want their.

They forgot their kit. → Whose kit? Theirs. ✓

there → think of its cousin here. If you're pointing at a place — or starting with there is / there are — you want there.

Put it over there. / There are three left. ✓

Notice the two of them even hide inside each other: t-here has the word here in it (a place), and t-heir has heir in it — an heir is someone who owns what they inherit (belonging). Little memory hooks, if they help.

Watch out

Here's where it goes wrong, and how to fix it:

• ✗ Their going to miss the bus. → ✓ They're going to miss the bus. (they are going)
• ✗ The players took they're seats. → ✓ The players took their seats. (whose seats? theirs)
• ✗ I left my bag over their. → ✓ I left my bag over there. (a place — like here)
• ✗ Their's a spider in the sink. → ✓ There's a spider in the sink. (there is)
• ✗ Their coming, and there bags are huge. → ✓ They're coming, and their bags are huge.

That last one has two mistakes in one breath — which is exactly how they show up in real writing.

One that's easy to miss: theirs

When theirs means "belonging to them" and stands on its own, it takes no apostrophe at all:

✓ That bag is theirs. ✗ That bag is their's.

Same for ours, yours, hers, its — the belonging words never need an apostrophe. So their (before a noun) and theirs (on its own) are both apostrophe-free. The only one here that has an apostrophe is they're — and that's because it's hiding the missing letter in they are.

One that catches people out

They're, their and there can all turn up in the same sentence — and that's the real test:

They're putting their coats over there.

Read it with the tests: they are putting whose coats (theirs) over that place. Three different words, one short sentence. If you can build that line and explain each choice, you've cracked it.

One more slip: there's for lots of things

Here's a small extra to watch. Because there's (there is) is so quick to say, people often use it even when they're talking about more than one thing: "there's three cakes left." Strictly, more than one needs there are - "there are three cakes left." In a chat with friends nobody minds, but in careful writing, match there is to one thing and there are to several. It's still the there family - just remember it can be singular or plural.

Why it's worth two seconds

It feels like a tiny thing, but mixing these up is one of the fastest ways to make good writing look careless. A brilliant story or a strong answer can lose marks — or just lose the reader's trust — over a stray there where a their should be. And because a spellchecker won't flag it (remember, all three are real words), you are the only check. The upside: it's also one of the quickest wins in all of writing. Learn three short tests once, and a mistake that trips up adults stops being your problem for good.

Two seconds of "they are? … whose? … a place?" is all it takes. That's a good trade.

Quick check

Fill each gap with their, there or they're:

1. ___ isn't any milk left.

2. The Year 9s said ___ finishing early.

3. Everyone grabbed ___ bags and ran.

4. Is the hall over ___ ?

5. ___ proud of ___ project, and it's over ___ on the wall.

Where next

• Its and it's — the exact same trap, one apostrophe apart. If their/there/they're clicked, this will too.
• Your and you're — same idea again: you are vs belonging to you.
• Apostrophes: don't, can't, and the shop-sign mistake — where the apostrophe in they're actually comes from.

Nobody's born knowing which spelling to reach for — you just need a test you trust. Stretch it to they are, ask whose?, or think here. Do that a few times and your hand starts choosing the right one before you've even thought about it.