A Story of the Three Theres
The English language is not the simplest language to learn. It is no wonder that many of us put off writting a paper for school or college, or make all kinds of excuses when the boss asks for a special report. There is a spelling problem, a pronunciation problem and a definition problem.
These are problems that plague those of us who know only the English language. Just consider the plight of our friends who are trying to learn and use English as a second language.
Maybe it would be helpful to look at a few words that trip us up because of different spellings and meanings. Our word guests today are the three Theres: There,Their and They're. All pronounced the same, but have very different spellings and meanings.
Let's meet our special word guests: the first There is a heavy hitter. We use there all the time. The dictionary labels there as an adverb. Simply put, adverbs modify or explain verbs, and verbs are action words. Example: Mary stood there. the verb is "stood" and the adverb is our big friend "there."
Our friend there is also described as a functional word to introduce a sentence or a clause. How many sentences does there introduce? Many. For instance: There they are. There is a product that we should all find out about.
There's close neighbor is their. This their sounds the same but means something entirely different. They cannot be used interchangeably. In fact, I don't think they even like each other.
Their is described as a possessive pronoun. It has everything to do with having or owning something that doesn't belong to anyone else. For instance: There is Mary and Fran in their car. Do the Johnson's own their house? Do their kids have horses?
If you are not sure which there to use, always ask yourself : does the their refer to somebody possessing something?
The third there has nothing to do with the other two.. In fact it isn't even a there, it is two words conracted into one: They're. The two words are: they are. Remove the "a" and insert the apostrophe and you now have one word :they're. It's a contracted word used in casual speech:
"My two cousins are over there. Is that their car? I bet they're leaving for home."
Thoroughly confused now?
There are other words that cause us all kinds of problems with spelling and meanings. For instance To, too, and two. But I can't face another set of three alike, but not alike words right now.
Recent Comments
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And there is paw pour poor and pore as someone recently got caught up in. It can happen to anyone...
Ah yes, English is full of those word traps. Once you start, it is hard to stop. They just keep on coming.
I can't imagine having to do so much writing if English was my second language. I have great admiration for those who figure out how to do it on here.
Any body who masters English as a second language is to be commended. And, even those of us who learned English as our only language often get tripped up.
Thanks, Barbara - there are homophones like these throughout the English language, and they're not always easy to distinguish by people for whom English is not their first language.
(Hopefully, I got those right!)
Although, as a teacher myself, many native English speakers get them wrong all the time!
And don't start me on here/hear, right/rite/write, weir/we're, and witch/which!! :)
Thanks for sharing this great information. Keep up the good work.
Gail
Oh you are so right. English is no respecter of persons. Isn't it easy to get started on those? One group of alike words leads to another.
It's fun, but it can lead to brain drain.
That is a great English class for me, I have learned something new through your education post I always have some trouble when writing in English, I'm so happy to use Grammarly, English is my third language and is indeed difficult sometimes to pronounce it correctly.
Are you a teacher?
Jacqueline
Thanks for your kind remarks. I'm glad things like Grammarly are out there to help people. English is so full of traps.
No, I'm not a teacher, always wanted to be, but did not get my degree until too late in life.
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Thanks for sharing this, Barbara! These three words, among others, have tripped up native English speakers and writers for years! I can't even imagine trying to understand all the meanings and spellings of words if English was not my native tongue. I truly admire our friends around the globe who do their best to use language properly.
Thanks for this great lesson!
Karin :)