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One indicates a place, the other shows possession.
Side-by-side comparison
"There" indicates a place: "in that location" or introduces the existence of something. "Over there" = in that place. "There is a problem" = a problem exists.
The keys are over there.
There are three emails in your inbox.
Is there a pharmacy nearby?
"Their" is the third-person plural possessive adjective: belonging to them. "Their house" = the house that belongs to them. It indicates possession, not location.
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).
- •"There bags are lost" (correct: Their bags).
Trick to remember it
- •"Their" contains "heir", a reminder it is about possession (like inheriting something).
- •"There" contains "here", a reminder it is about a location.
Quick rule
Can you replace it with "in that place"? "There." Can you replace it with "belonging to them"? "Their."
Did you know?
THEIR entered English from Old Norse "þeirra" (of them, genitive plural) during the Viking invasions of the 8th to 11th centuries. Before Viking influence, Old English used "hiera" or "heora" for the same meaning. The word THERE comes from Old English "þær" (place), a completely different root. That two words with such different origins, one from Old English, one from Old Norse, ended up as perfect homophones is one of the many historical accidents that make English spelling so complex. Along with their/they're/there, the pairs your/you're and its/it's are the most frequent spelling errors even among native speakers on social media.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The children left _____ shoes by the door when they came in.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Look over _____! I can see them waiting by the gate.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
The apostrophe contracts 'it is' or 'it has'; without it, the word shows possession.
'Your' shows that something belongs to you; 'you\'re' is a shortening of 'you are'.
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy