General Question

talljasperman's avatar

I still don’t know when to use their and there.

Asked by talljasperman (21919points) September 29th, 2013

Or are their/there better ways to get around using these words?

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55 Answers

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srmorgan's avatar

Their is strictly used to indicate a possessive relationship.

There isn’t

talljasperman's avatar

@srmorgan I don’t understand. Maybe I have brain damage from all of the concussions as a youth.

augustlan's avatar

“Their” means it belongs to someone. Like, “their house”.

talljasperman's avatar

@augustlan What if I say I own over their/there? and over their/there is a sign that says there.

livelaughlove21's avatar

What’s not to understand?

I went to their house.
I went over there.

“Their” is possessive. “There” is descriptive.

“I own over their/there” makes no sense. “I own the house over there” is correct.

augustlan's avatar

Though it’s not always the way we use “there”, it can be helpful to remember that “there” has the word “here” in it, so it’s a place.

talljasperman's avatar

@augustlan I guess that is what happens when you get a philosophy/psychology major going into law.. every word gets messed up… I will depend on Fluther to give me the right there/their.

josie's avatar

Their refers to what is associated with an entity, like a person.
There is a location.
There you go!

longgone's avatar

Really simple way: Try using “my” instead of the word. Say the sentence.

A) _____ dog is annoying.

B) Is ______ a better way?

If the sentence sounds fine with “my”, use their. Otherwise, use there. You will be right most of the time.

Try it, tell me which sentence needs “their”.

longgone's avatar

Their dog is annoying.

Is there a better way?

-> Did you get both of them right?

talljasperman's avatar

@longgone I got one B) right.

longgone's avatar

Okay. Let’s try again.

A) _____ are no more chips.

B) _______ house burned down.

Using the trick, you would say,

A) My are no more chips.

B) My house burned down.

Which sentence sounds okay using “my”?

longgone's avatar

Right! So where do you use “their”?

talljasperman's avatar

@longgone In A) but I still don’t believe… I’m hungry I am going to get a Teen Burger.

drhat77's avatar

Their means “they own it”. Similar to the word “our”, which means “we own it”.
There is a place.

longgone's avatar

No…you use “their” when “my” sounds right. Let that sink in while you get your burger.
Try not to give up so fast…it’s a little exasperating. “Their” whenever “my” sounds right.

drhat77's avatar

Dear fucking God if you are high while writing these posts I will drive all the way to Canada to kick your frost bitten ass.
Where am I driving? THERE. To Canada.
Whose ass am I kicking? Not theirs… yours!

Response moderated (Off-Topic)
talljasperman's avatar

@drhat77 Lol. I am on medication for mental illness. I just took them an hour ago. But I will give up on there/their and try to find alternate words. Thanks everyone but My teacher couldn’t teach me when I was in school and an two English professors failed… I seriously think that my mind is set up in some way that is incompatible with there/their. I will come back to your answer for a clue on where to write there and their.

longgone's avatar

You are obviously able to write coherently. You’re not incapable of learning this… You might be pretending. That’s fine, though, suit yourself.

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drhat77's avatar

Was it your carrot cake? Or theirs? Yours was there on the counter. Theirs was there in the fridge.

talljasperman's avatar

@drhat77 I need replacement words. I will never understand their/there for more than a few seconds before forgetting. I will ask my doctor when I see him if I have some disorder that prevents me from using grammar properly.

longgone's avatar

There are no replacement words.

drhat77's avatar

You will have to not use pronouns. Just always mention who owns things and the name of the place you are referring to, and absolutely no one will think you come from France

talljasperman's avatar

@drhat77 What’s a pronoun?

drhat77's avatar

A pronoun is a convenience holder in a sentence that refers to noun. “He” is a pronoun that refers to the most recently named male that you had mentioned.
Their is not technically a pronoun, but instead of “their car” you can say “my neighbors car”.
There is also technically not a pronoun, but instead of saying “over there” you can say “over by the couch”.
In both cases the words a conveniacnes that make conversation flow smoother because you are not properly stating the same thing over and over. You just state it once, and refer to it later

drhat77's avatar

Here is a random generated story, with the pronouns crossed out and replaced by proper nouns. Very hard to read.
It Our story all started when our adventurer, Bill Brasky, woke up in a swamp. It This time was the third time it waking up in a swamp had happened. Feeling really angered, Bill Brasky grabbed a stapler, thinking it the stapler would make him Bill Brasky feel better (but as usual, it grabbing the stapler did not). Suddenly, he Bill Brasky realized that his beloved iPad was missing! Immediately he Bill Brasky called his neighbor, Leroy Jenkins. Bill Brasky had known Leroy Jenkins for (plus or minus) 2,000 years, the majority of which were flamboyant ones. Leroy Jenkins was unique. He was congenial though sometimes a little… pestering. Bill Brasky called him Leroy Jenkins anyway, for the situation was urgent.

Seek's avatar

Their house is over there.

Colin and Seek are going to A&W. When they get THERE, they will place THEIR orders. Then THEY’RE going to meet the guys to play D&D.

Get it?

talljasperman's avatar

@Seek_Kolinahr Yes… but I will forget in 10 minutes… It’s like taking the time to memorize a spell that gets used up on the first use.

Response moderated (Off-Topic)
Daisygirl's avatar

The easiest way to remember “their” is by replacing it with “my”
That is “their” house can translate into that is “my” house.
Since “their” means a possession, then replacing it with “my” should work.

I want to go “their” doesn’t work if you replace it with “my”- I want to go my…

“There” are 50 stars on the United States flag (correct way)
It would sound silly if I were to say
“My” are 50 stars on the United States flag.

“Their” dog is nice- “My” dog is nice.
“There” are a lot of people here- “My” are a lot of people here.

Haha, well, I wrote this, THEN looked at the responses… Haven’t been on here for 2 years and already made an a** of myself lol.

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filmfann's avatar

They’re all mostly right, mostly.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Sunny2's avatar

As long as you tell yourself, “I can’t”; you won’t be able to.

DominicX's avatar

“Their” is the one that as a much more specific definition and a much easier-to-pin down usage. “Their” literally means “of they”, “belonging to they”, etc. “Their dog” is “the dog of they; the dog that belongs to they” (whoever “they” are). If there’s no “they” involved, then “their” is not the word you’re looking for.

JamesHarrison's avatar

Both are comes under the Pronoun but difference in their use. It means ‘their’ is a personal pronoun & ‘there’ is a demonstrative pronoun.
‘their’ indicate to the particular thing or person like ” I like their friendship ”
& ‘there’ use in “There are many people in the park”.

JLeslie's avatar

Their has an I in it. Think I; a person; my, your, his, her.

If you can replace a word that describe a person then you use their. I like their house. I like his house, I like my house, I like your house.

I like the house over there. You cannot put what would describe a person it, so it is the there without the I. There is location.

Similar trick to lie and lay. Lie with an I describes you. I want to lie down for a nap. I need to lay out the clothes for tomorrow.

JLeslie's avatar

Test

1. She talked to ___________ lawyer.

2. _________ dog is always barking.

3. The man over _________ is not feeling well.

4. _________ are seven people coming to dinner.

5. Why did she put the lamps ________?

I was just thinking maybe if you put a name in? The their with an I is a person as I mentioned above. Similar to how we use I to describe ourselves. So, put the name @talljasperman in the sentence. @talljasperman, @talljasperman,‘s or @talljasperman and Sally. If it works it is the their with an I.

flutherother's avatar

You may be a little dyslexic. If you use Word it will usually prompt you to correct spelling mistakes of this kind.

Thammuz's avatar

@talljasperman
“Their” means “belonging to them”
“There” means “in that place” (whether literally or figuratively)

Seriously, i’m not even a native speaker and i know this, how do you get through school without learning this stuff?

gailcalled's avatar

If you can substitute “my,” “thy”, “his,” “her,” and “our,” then use “their.”

My Teen Burger is sitting on the bureau over there.

Their Teen Burger is sitting on the bureau there.

There is their Teen Burger, just where I left it on the bureau.

syz's avatar

Their = belongs to them
There = a location (“over there”)
They’re = they are

Response moderated (Off-Topic)
DWW25921's avatar

They’re going over there to get their stuff. dang, I’m good.

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ISmart's avatar

there, there.. you will be ok their

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