This guide is for you, whether you are a novice writer, learning the language, or you have simply picked up some bad writing habits or never been sure which is the right one to use. Straightforward examples of common uses will teach you where to use them correctly.
There (T H E R E) is a very versatile word, that can indicate a place, location or direction:
“The best place to put it is there.”
“There are the keys you were looking for.”
“It’s that one, the one over there.”
“I went there the other day.”
A point or place in time:
“He paused there to give the music more emphasis.”
“It was best to end the programme there.”
Calling or bringing attention to something or someone
“There they go!”
“There you are!”
Expressing encouragement, satisfaction or relief:
“There we go! You can do it!”
“There! Finished perfectly!”
“There! Thank goodness for that!”
Now we move on to their (T H E I R) which indicates possession and should only be used as such:
“Their dog was very noisy.”
“They looked after their children.”
“Can everyone remember their way home?”
“They left their shoes at the door.”
“It was their right to cancel if they wanted to.”
And finally, they’re (T H E Y ‘ R E) which is purely an abbreviation of ‘they are’, where the apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter ‘a’, and so should never be used in any other way:
“They’re a perfect pair, those two.”
“If they’re going to come, they’d better hurry.”
“They’re crazy, that lot!”
So then, it only remains to say:
There is a definite way for people to use "there", "their" or "they’re" at the right place and the right time. As long as they’ve got their wits about them, they’re going to learn that there is a time and place for every word there is, and there is no reason that they’re ever going to need to use their words differently if they’re willing to take the time to learn. There! That’s it!
