Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and this is Part I of a series explaining they’re, their, and there. I know, I know, you can’t tell which one I’m talking about because they all three sound exactly alike. Here’s the one we’re going to start with: t-h-e-y-apostrophe-r-e.
When you see an apostrophe in the middle of a word, it generally means that something has been omitted – usually, a space or a couple of letters. In this case, “they’re” with an apostrophe is short for “they are,” so the space and the a are replaced by the apostrophe. “They are” is not the same as “there,” like “over there,” or “their,” like “their sandwich.” If you can replace a “there” with “they are,” then it should be there written with an apostrophe.
Tune in to the next two episodes to learn about the other theirs.
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