JS Tip 204: From the Writing Workshops: There, Their, and They’re

Last week’s tip on it’s and its brought a flood of related requests.

We’ll treat the more-recent requests because they’re related. We’ve got other requests in the queue. We respect that, and we’ll get to those. 

There not the same.
Their not the same.
They’re not the same.

(We saw this on a tee shirt and liked it. We have no idea of the source.)

There is location. Where? There: “We like San Dimas. We’ll build the warehouse there.” Think of how “there” looks like “where.”

Their is possession. Belonging to them: “The right thing to do is refund their money.” The money belongs to them.

They’re is a contraction of “they” and “are”: “They’re pleased with the results.” (“They are pleased with the results.”)

Play this out. Fill in the blanks. Have fun with this.

__________ getting ready to sign the contract.

They’ve finished __________ due diligence.

They’d like us to be __________ for the signing.

Be careful. Don’t confuse the words. You’ll lose credibility.

Next week: You’re, your, and yore. (Okay, the last one’s a stretch.)

If you have comments, suggestions, or arguments, let us know. We love this stuff. And we appreciate you, too.