Their, They’re, and There: Here’s the Difference in Meaning with Sentence Examples

Just about everyone knows about these confusing words—let’s review them so that you can easily remember the difference.

They’re is the easiest to remember; it is a contraction of “they are”. In contractions, the apostrophe always stands for a missing letter.

There means “that place (over there).” It is part of a family of words: here, there, and where.

Their, which is similar to her, your, and our. It is the possessive form of they:

Bob and Tonya are proud of their garden, but our garden is nicer!

Here’s a breakdown of how (and why) these words are used in a sentence:

There is a house on the hill. = A house is there, on the hill.

They’re coming to our party. = They are coming to our party.

They’re wrong. = They are wrong.

Also note that the phrases there is and there are is often used with no actual place in mind; it just means “this exists”:

There is no reason to worry.

There are many illogical patterns in language.

More Examples of “Their” in a Sentence

1. Their mother has never celebrated a birthday with her sons, and their father wasn’t released until their 13th birthday.
2. They renewed their vows on the beach in front of their home, accompanied by their daughter Chloe.
3. They can set themselves, their teams, their colleagues and their organizations up for success along the way.
4. On several occasions, the men talked about their lives, their faith and lessons imparted by their fathers.
5. Now in their late 30s, the couple must also weigh their age along with their financial standing.

More Examples of “They’re” in a Sentence

1. They’re sold in bulk with up to thousands of recommended servings per container.
2. They’re going to mix up their strategy on third down, varying their pressure tactics.
3. They’re down to about three dozen dairy cows, from a peak of 100.
4. As the players determine how to respond, they’re starting from a difficult position.
5. But for the Celtics, well they’re in a position of power right now.

More Examples of “There” in a Sentence

1. There are over 800 episodes, so there’s a lot to catch up on.
2. From bass boats to beer cans, there’s a lot of aluminum out there.
3. There’s a lot of bad information flying around out there about food allergies.
4. I think that there’s a whole mix of things going on in there.
5. But that means there’s a lot of titles out there to sift through.