There, their, they’re. Words that sound the same when spoken can often cause headaches while writing. To assist you with determining which form of the word “there” is correct in your sentence, we have taken a look at each form and broken it down by its meaning, examples, and tricks to assist you in determining which form to use in your sentences.
With this spelling, “there” is used to refer to a location, place, or existence of something. A way to test for the correct usage of this form would be to substitute the word here. Let’s look at some examples.
Both of these sentences are correct, so you can tell that you have used the proper form of this word.
In this example, the second sentence doesn’t sound quite right, so can tell that you have used the incorrect form of “there.”
This form can also be used as a way to call attention to someone or something, such as “Hey there!” or “Look at the ducks over there”. With this form, imagine yourself accompanying your sentence with a pointing gesture. If you cannot imagine this gesture, or if the gesture does not feel right with your sentence, you have probably used there incorrectly.
This form of our word is used to show possession of an item. To check if you have used this form correctly, try replacing it with the word our in your sentence.
The second sentence in this example is correct, so you have used the correct form.
In this case, the second sentence does not make sense when you switch their with our, so you know that you have used the incorrect form.
Finally, they’re is the contraction, or shortened form of writing, for they are. To test the usage of this form, replace the contraction with the full words they are.
Both of these sentences are correct, so the contraction they’re is appropriate to use in this example.
In this case, the full phrase they are does not make sense when it is substituted into the sentence. You would need to take another look at this and add the correct form of our word.
In each of our examples above, the sentences were fairly straightforward and only used one form of “there.” Let’s take a look at some more complicated examples, and see if we can use our tests from above to figure out which form is correct.
You can see here that when we make our substitutions to test our sentence, it no longer makes sense, so we can tell that we have used the incorrect form. The correct sentence would be: “Let’s help them move their couch over there.”
Once again, our sentence does not make sense once we substitute our test words. We will need to fix these sentences in our writing. The correct sentence would be: “They’re coming over with their dog.”
When we substitute our test words in this example, our sentence still makes sense. We have used each form of the word “there” correctly in this example.
To determine which of these forms you should use in your sentence, try completing the following tests:
Some additional tips to help you remember which form is correct.
Take a look at the spelling of the words themselves. There refers to a location, and the word here is tucked into the word. Their is used to show possession, and the word heir is hidden inside the word. If you are an heir, you have taken possession of an item. They’re stands for they are, and is easy to test by adding in the full words.
If you are unsure of yourself with these words, allow eContent Pro to help. Our professionally trained editorial team will review your document and bring any uses of the incorrect form of “there” to your attention. Learn more about our copy editing services.
Based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA, eContent Pro offers high-quality end-to-end editorial and publishing services, ensuring seamless workflows through the eContent Pro Business Enterprise Management System (BEMS), fast turnaround times, competitive pricing, and exceptional customer service. Since 1994, we have supported commercial publishers, university/library presses, organizations, and societies by streamlining their publishing workflow with innovative publishing solutions.
