So There.

I was asked to post a blog about there, their and they're, and I'm certainly happy to oblige. My aunt was driving along the Katy Freeway in Houston, Texas, and saw a billboard for Taco Cabana (how I miss Taco Cabana!) that read,"There Back!" It was referring to beef flautas or something, she said, but she was appalled that this glaring mistake made it to print, and in such a giant form, mind you! Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all the time. First, take this Quiz to test your mastery of the difference.

There is perhaps the most common of the three, and is most often used as an adverb. It usually refers to being in or at a place or at a certain point in an action or speech. For example: He went there yesterday.

Their shows ownership of an object or objects by more than one person. For example: He went to their house.

They're is a contraction, and stands for they are. For example: Do you know what they're doing?

I quite like this explanation, from the website of Professor Paul Brians of Washington State University:

Many people are so spooked by apostrophes that a word like “they’re” seems to them as if it might mean almost anything. In fact, it’s always a contraction of “they are.” If you’ve written “they’re,” ask yourself whether you can substitute “they are.” If not, you’ve made a mistake. “Their” is a possessive pronoun like “her” or “our” “They eat their hotdogs with sauerkraut.” Everything else is “there.” “There goes the ball, out of the park! See it? Right there! There aren’t very many home runs like that.” “Thier” is a common misspelling, but you can avoid it by remembering that “they” and “their” begin with the same three letters. Another hint: “there” has “here” buried inside it to remind you it refers to place, while “their” has “heir” buried in it to remind you that it has to do with possession.

It seems elementary, but it's surprising how often people use there, their and they're incorrectly. So there.