Word Differences
Their vs. There vs. They’re: How to Tell Them Apart
A simple guide to their, there, and they’re, with examples, a comparison table, and a lasting memory trick.
By Vocabaura Editorial · Published 5 August 2026 · 6 min read
Quick answer
Their shows possession, there refers to a place or introduces a sentence, and they’re is a contraction of “they are.” Say they’re over there with their bags.
These three words are pronounced the same way but do completely different jobs in a sentence. Because English relies so heavily on spelling to carry meaning in writing, mixing them up is one of the fastest ways to undercut an otherwise polished piece of writing.
Quick Answer
Their is a possessive pronoun (it belongs to them). There is an adverb of place or a sentence starter (a location, or “there is/are”). They’re is a contraction of “they are.” If you can substitute “they are” into the sentence and it still makes sense, you need they’re.
Definitions
Their shows ownership by a group of people or things already mentioned: “the students packed their bags.” It always comes before a noun it modifies.
There points to a place, either physical or abstract: “put it there,” “there is no easy answer.” It’s also used to introduce the existence of something, as in “there are three options.”
They’re is simply a contraction — a shortened way of writing “they are.” It’s always followed by a verb form ending in -ing, an adjective, or a noun phrase describing the subject: “they’re running late,” “they’re happy,” “they’re teachers.”
The Key Difference
The fastest way to choose correctly is to test whether “they are” fits. If it does, write they’re. If the sentence is about ownership, write their. If it’s about location or existence, write there. These three tests rarely overlap, so you only need to run through them once per sentence.
Possession
The neighbors left their porch light on all night.
Place
We parked the car over there, near the entrance.
Existence
There is still time to submit your application.
Contraction
They’re planning to visit next month.
| Their | There | They’re | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | Possessive pronoun | Adverb / existential subject | Contraction (they + are) |
| Answers the question | Whose? | Where? / Does it exist? | Who is/are doing what? |
| Followed by | A noun | A verb or clause | A verb (-ing), adjective, or noun |
| Example | their car | put it there | they’re tired |
Common Mistakes
- Writing “there house” instead of “their house” — ownership needs the possessive form.
- Writing “they’re car broke down” instead of “their car broke down.”
- Writing “Their going to the game” instead of “They’re going to the game.”
- Autocorrect sometimes swaps these silently, so a final read-through matters more than spell-check for this pair.
Memory Trick
Their contains the word “heir,” which is a nice reminder that it deals with belonging or inheritance. There contains the word “here,” a place word inside a place word. They’re has an apostrophe, and apostrophes almost always signal a squeezed-together word — here, “they” and “are.”