there

There is commonly used to introduce sentences or to indicate where something is, as in It’s over there, next to the window. Their is the possessive form of the personal pronoun they, essentially meaning belonging to or possessed by them, as in Is that their car, or ours? They’re is a contraction of they are.

There are many instances in which they’re confused because their pronunciations are exactly the same. (See what we did there?)

There are easy ways to remember which spelling is right, and they’re actually built into each word.

When it’s used to indicate location, there functions a lot like here (even though it can mean the opposite), and the word here is right inside of it.

You can remember that their is the one that’s used to show possession (like his and her) by remembering that it includes the word heir (a person who inherits possessions).

The apostrophe in they’re indicates that it’s a combination of two words and signals that it’s the one you want to use when you mean they are.

Here’s an example of there, their, and they’re used correctly in the same sentence.

Example: It’s hard to work as a team in that environment—when they’re in there, they’re their own worst enemies.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between there, their, and they’re.

In what order should there, their, and they’re be used in the following sentence?

_____ shoes are over _____, right next to where _____ sitting.

A. their, there, they’re
B. there, they’re, their
C. they’re, their, there
D. their, they’re, there