There, their or they’re?
It’s surprising how much confusion this causes. The rule is a simple one:
- Use they’re when you mean “they are”;
- Use their when you mean “belonging to them or connected to them”;
- Use there in every other case!
Some examples of how to use “they’re”:
- They’re going to the shops this afternoon.
- Please look at the cakes and see if they’re ready yet.
Some examples of how to use “their”:
- I see the Burtons have had their house painted.
- In their situation I would have done things differently.
Some examples of how to use “there”:
- My coffee is here on my desk, yours is over there.
- There isn’t any good reason for getting this wrong.
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March 26th, 2007 at 08:37 UTC
There are lots more words which cause confusion and thus errors. Here are a few ideas for future blog entries:
Your and you’re
Who’s and whose
Its and it’s
And “alot” is not a word. It’s two words “a” and “lot”
If you, the reader, can think of any more please add them here via the “Submit Content” button.
March 26th, 2007 at 08:40 UTC
This one is so prevalent it almost deserves its own category – the superfluous apostrophe. It’s almost got to the stage that where I see a plural without an apostophe before the “s”, I look twice and wonder if it’s correct.