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A1

Their vs There vs They're

Their shows possession (their car). There points to a place or introduces existence (over there, there is). They're is short for 'they are'.

The one-line answer

Their shows possession (their car). There points to a place or introduces existence (over there, there is). They're is short for 'they are'.

their

determiner

belonging to them — always followed by a noun

  • The students handed in their homework.
  • Their house is at the end of the street.
  • They forgot their passports.

there

adverb

in or at that place; also used in 'there is/are' to say something exists

  • Your keys are over there on the table.
  • There is a problem with the booking.
  • We went there last summer.

they're

contraction

short for 'they are' — always expandable to 'they are'

  • They're waiting for us at the station.
  • I think they're right about the price.
  • They're moving to a bigger office next month.

Memory trick

Expand the apostrophe: if 'they are' fits, write they're. If it points to a place, 'there' contains 'here'. Everything else showing ownership is 'their'.

Their vs There vs They're: Test yourself

Question 1 of 3

___ waiting outside right now.