They’re Their And There | Fix The Mix Up In Minutes

These three words sound the same, so your ear won’t save you. Your reader only sees the spelling, and the wrong one can flip the meaning or make a sentence look sloppy.

This guide gives you a clean way to choose the right word each time, plus practice you can use right away.

Word Or Form	What It Means	Fast Check
they’re	Contraction of “they are”	Swap in “they are.” If it still reads well, use they’re.
their	Belonging to them	Look for a thing right after it: their + noun.
there	In that place, or pointing to a spot	Ask “where?” If the sentence answers a place, use there.
there is / there are	Sentence opener that points to existence	Try “a thing exists.” If that fits, you’re in there-territory.
their + -s (theirs)	Possessive pronoun: “belonging to them” without a noun	Swap in “belongs to them.” If it fits, use theirs.
their’s (wrong)	Common misspelling	Drop the apostrophe. Possessive pronouns don’t take it.
theres (wrong)	Missing apostrophe in “there’s”	If you mean “there is,” write there’s with an apostrophe.

Why These Three Get Mixed Up

Speech blurs spelling, so “their” and “there” feel identical when you say them. Writing is stricter: each spelling signals a different job in the sentence.

Spellcheck won’t catch most mix-ups because each option is a real word. That’s why a quick meaning check beats guessing.

Teachers often call this mix-up “they’re their and there.” It’s a handy label, but the fix comes from meaning, not sound.

Small Cues That Help You Pick Fast

When you’re writing fast, a short cue can save a re-read.

A Cue For They’re

Spot the apostrophe and think “letters removed.” If you can expand to they are, they’re is the match.

A Cue For Their

The word their has an i in it. Some writers link that to “I own it,” which nudges you toward possession.

A Cue For There

There contains here. That chunk points to a place, even when the place is abstract, like “there is a problem.”

They’re Their And There Rules That Stick

They’re: The “They Are” Shortcut

They’re is just two words squeezed into one. The apostrophe marks missing letters from they are.

Use they’re only when you can expand it back to they are and the sentence still reads clean.

• They’re late again. → They are late again.
• I think they’re ready. → I think they are ready.
• They’re friends of mine. → They are friends of mine.

If “they are” sounds weird in your sentence, stop and pick a different word. The swap test is strict and that’s the point.

When They’re Looks Right But Isn’t

Watch out for sentences that need a possessive, not a verb. If a noun follows, you often want their, not they’re.

• Wrong: They’re dog is loud.
• Right: Their dog is loud.

Their: Ownership And Belonging

Their points to something that belongs to “them.” Most of the time, a noun comes right after it.

Scan for the owned thing: their house, their plan, their notes, their parents. If you can ask “whose?” and answer “theirs,” you’re in their land.

• Their team won the match.
• We read their reports before class.
• They forgot their cards on the table.

Theirs Vs. Their

Theirs stands alone, while their sits before a noun. Both show possession, just in different shapes.

• This seat is theirs. (No noun after.)
• This is their seat. (Noun after.)

There: Place, Point, And “There Is/Are”

There often answers a place question: where? It can point to a real location or a spot in a sentence.

• Your phone is over there.
• We’ll meet there at noon.
• There goes the bus.

There also shows up in sentences that introduce something: “there is” and “there are.” In that pattern, there is not ownership at all—it’s a pointer.

• There is a typo in the title.
• There are three options on the form.

Sentences That Trip People Up

Some sentence shapes invite mistakes because the words sit near each other or the sentence moves fast. These patterns show up a lot in school writing and daily messages.

When A Noun Follows Right Away

If a noun sits right after the word, start by testing their. “Their backpack,” “their answer,” “their house.” If you try they’re there, it falls apart.

• Wrong: They’re homework is missing.
• Right: Their homework is missing.

When The Sentence Starts With “There”

In “there is” and “there are,” the verb agrees with the noun that comes next. That’s why “there are two pages” sounds right, while “there is two pages” sounds off.

If you’re unsure, locate the noun after the verb, then match the verb to that noun: one thing → is, more than one → are.

When You’re Pointing Inside A Text

Writers use there to point to a spot on the page: “Look there,” “The answer is there,” “There on line three.” This is still the place meaning, just inside the writing.

When “Their” Links To An Action

You’ll also see their before an -ing word when the action belongs to them: “their arriving late,” “their leaving early.” It can sound formal, yet it’s a real pattern.

Fast Tests You Can Run In Seconds

You don’t need to label parts of speech to get this right. You just need two small tests and one scan.

Test 1: The Swap Test For They’re

1. Replace the word with they are.
2. Read the sentence out loud once.
3. If it still sounds natural, choose they’re. If not, stop.

Test 2: The “Whose?” Test For Their

1. Ask “Whose?” right after the word.
2. If the answer is “belonging to them,” choose their.
3. Check for a noun nearby: their + thing.

Test 3: The “Where?” Test For There

1. Ask “Where?”
2. If the sentence points to a place, pick there.
3. If it starts with “there is/are,” it’s still there.

If you want an extra set of samples, Purdue OWL lists these homophones in its Common Words That Sound Alike reference.

Common Traps And How To Fix Them

Trap 1: Writing “Their’s”

English uses apostrophes for contractions and some possessives, but possessive pronouns don’t take apostrophes. That means their’s is never the right spelling.

Write their before a noun, or write theirs when it stands alone.

Trap 2: Letting Autocorrect Guess

Autocorrect can swap a word that “looks right” without checking meaning. If you see one of these three in a sentence you just typed, run the tests above once and move on.

Trap 3: Using They’re In Formal Writing

Some teachers and style rules prefer no contractions in formal assignments. In that case, write they are instead of they’re and you avoid the whole choice.

MLA Style gives a clear, plain breakdown of the three words on its Their, There, and They’re Difference page.

A Quick Proofreading Routine That Catches Most Errors

When you edit, your brain reads what it expects, not what’s on the page. A short routine forces your eyes to slow down.

1. Use your browser’s Find tool and search for “there” first.
2. Check each “there” with the where-test or the “there is/are” pattern.
3. Search for “their” next and check that a noun sits close by.
4. Search for “they’re” last and run the swap test with “they are.”
5. Read the full paragraph once, out loud if you can.

This takes two minutes on most assignments and it wipes out the most common mix-ups.

Practice Sentences With Answers

Fill each blank with they’re, their, or there. Then check the answer and the reason.

Sentence With A Blank	Correct Word	Why It Fits
_____ going to finish the project after lunch.	they’re	Swap test: “they are going to finish.”
I left my notebook over _____ by the window.	there	Answers “where?”
The students turned in _____ essays before the bell.	their	Shows ownership of essays.
_____ are two reasons the answer looks odd.	there	“There are” points to existence.
If you see the twins, tell them _____ late.	they’re	Swap test: “they are late.”
The players packed _____ gear in silence.	their	Gear belongs to them.
We’ll park the car right _____ and walk.	there	Place word.
_____ teacher asked for a cleaner final draft.	their	Teacher belongs to “them” as a group.
Don’t worry, _____ already on the list.	they’re	Swap test: “they are already on the list.”
Is the answer right? Look _____ in the second paragraph.	there	Points to a spot in the text.

Quick Rewrite Drill

Take these lines and fix the one wrong word in each. Then read the corrected line out loud.

• They’re backpacks are on the floor. → Their backpacks are on the floor.
• Put your bag over their. → Put your bag over there.
• There going to call you later. → They’re going to call you later.
• I know their finished, but I can’t see it. → I know they’re finished, but I can’t see it.
• Is that phone theirs? Leave it there. → (Both words are already right.)

If you missed one, run the tests again. After a few rounds, the sentence shapes start to feel familiar.

Build Your Own Sentences Without Guessing

Practice sticks when you write your own lines. Use the templates below and swap in your own nouns and verbs.

Sentence Templates For They’re

• They’re + adjective: They’re excited, they’re tired, they’re ready.
• They’re + verb-ing: They’re studying, they’re cooking, they’re waiting.
• They’re + noun phrase: They’re the winners, they’re my neighbors.

Sentence Templates For Their

• Their + thing: their laptop, their idea, their schedule.
• Their + group noun: their class, their family, their friends.
• Their + abstract noun: their plan, their goal, their opinion.

Sentence Templates For There

• Over there / right there / down there.
• There is / there are + noun.
• From there, we walked home. (Place in the story.)

Mini Checklist Before You Hit Submit

Here’s a final pass you can do in one breath. It’s short, but it catches the usual slips.

• If the word can become “they are,” choose they’re.
• If the word shows belonging, choose their (or theirs if it stands alone).
• If the word points to a place or starts “there is/are,” choose there.
• If you typed “their’s,” delete the apostrophe and re-check the sentence.

One last tip: if you’re still unsure, rewrite the sentence. Often you can avoid the tricky spot by swapping in a clearer phrase.

In your own writing, the phrase “they’re their and there” shows up as a quick label for this mix-up. Treat it like a signal to slow down, run the tests, and move on.