One indicates a place, the other shows possession.
Adverb of place. Indicates that something is in that location or exists.
The keys are over there.
There are three emails in your inbox.
Is there a pharmacy nearby?
Third-person plural possessive adjective. Shows that something belongs to them.
Their flight was delayed two hours.
The students forgot their homework.
Their house is at the end of the street.
Common mistake
Using 'their' for location or 'there' for possession. Common mistake: "Their are many options" (correct: There are many options).
Trick to remember it
'Their' contains the word 'heir', which reminds you it is about possession. 'There' contains 'here', which reminds you it is about a location.
Quick rule
If you can replace it with 'in that place', use 'there'. If you can replace it with 'belonging to them', use 'their'.
Did you know?
Along with 'your/you're' and 'its/it's', this ranks among the three most frequent spelling errors in social media posts, even among native English speakers.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
_____ are more than fifty people waiting outside.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The children left _____ backpacks on the bus.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
If you can replace it with 'in that place', use 'there'. If you can replace it with 'belonging to them', use 'their'.
Using 'their' for location or 'there' for possession. Common mistake: "Their are many options" (correct: There are many options).
'Their' contains the word 'heir', which reminds you it is about possession. 'There' contains 'here', which reminds you it is about a location.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy