There vs Their: Difference and Comparison

Proper language in both writing and verbal has become crucial nowadays because our language skills are what make up our image next to our appearance and body language.

In such regards, one of the most commonly used words in both our writing and verbal responses are there and their.

Though both appear to be similar, they have profound differences in real. This property of these two words with similar pronunciation and different meanings is what we call โ€œHomophonesโ€.

Homophones are confusing to hear, but it is one of the essential vocabulary portions one needs to understand to use the English language more elegantly.

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Key Takeaways

  1. โ€œThereโ€ is an adverb indicating a specific location or position and a pronoun introducing a subject or noun in a sentence.
  2. โ€œTheirโ€ is a possessive pronoun used to indicate that something belongs to or is associated with a group of people previously mentioned or implied.
  3. The primary difference between โ€œthereโ€ and โ€œtheirโ€ is their grammatical function, with โ€œthereโ€ denoting a location or introducing a subject, while โ€œtheirโ€ signifies possession or association with a group.

There vs Their

โ€œTheirโ€ is the possessive pronoun, which means belonging to them. She, for instance, envy their pricey shoes. It is also used as a replacement for his or her. While โ€œthereโ€, when used as an adjective, denotes that location (in or to). For instance, itโ€™s very cold there, therefore I donโ€™t want to go.

There vs Their

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Comparison Table

Parameter of ComparisonThereTheir
Grammatical nomenclatureAdverb or AdjectivePossessive pronoun
Grammar numberMostly singularMostly plural except when the subjectโ€™s identity or gender is unknown.
Grammatical usageIt used to point to a place that is already known.Used to indicate the ownership of an object by a subject.
Pronoun usageUsed to introduce clause or sentenceUsed to introduce a subject who owns the object.
ExamplesMy friend will beย thereย soon.It is their dog.

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What is the Meaning of There?

โ€œThereโ€, is an adverb with a meaning pointing towards a place. In some instances, it can also be used as a pronoun for introducing a clause or sentence.

It is most of the time used primly to stop the unnecessary repetitions of the mentioned noun.

โ€œThereโ€, when used as a pronoun, is a little bit hard to understand.โ€œThereโ€ is often used to quickly start a sentence and define an already existing or happened thing.

Informal speech patterns can also employ โ€œThereโ€ as an essential part of their structure for conveying the meaning of the sentence for which it is used.

Some examples of usage of โ€œThereโ€ are,

  • I love Spain. I goย thereย (to Spain) every year.ย 

In the above example, here, the word โ€œthereโ€ is used to indicate Spain when the preceding sentence, which is used, already defines the nature of Spain. This usage aids in preventing an unnecessary repetition of a name in sentences that will otherwise be annoying.

  • Donโ€™t go downย there, John. (It is assumed that John knows whereย thereย is).

For this example, the word โ€œtheirโ€™โ€ is used to imply a place to a subject, which the person already knows. This type of usage will be helpful, especially when the place of interest in the scene cannot be named easily but can be pointed to convey the meaning.

  • Jack pausedย thereย to let him reply. (referring to a moment in time in the scene)

To convey the meaning that Jack stopped talking at a pointed instance time during a conversation to someone for the other person to reply. โ€œThereโ€ can also be used like this to point to a time.

  • Thereย is no way for a setback. (replacing a noun)

โ€œThereโ€ is used as replacing noun to start a sentence or to introduce a clause. This makes the expressed meaning easy to understand

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What is the Meaning of Their?

โ€œTheirโ€ is a possessive pronoun of the subject. It is most often used to indicate the ownership or claim of a person over a subject.

It means when there is a need to explain the ownership of an object to more than one person, it is wise to use โ€œtheirโ€ in the sentence, which will make the sentence look simple and easily understandable.

In most instances, โ€œtheirโ€ is used to indicate the ownership of a plural subject, but with some exceptions, especially when the subjectโ€™s identity or gender is a mystery.ย 

Some examples of usage of โ€œTheirโ€ are,

  • They leftย theirย wallet at home.ย 

In this example, โ€œtheirโ€ is used to claim the ownership of the wallet to the persons on the scene that left it at home. The persons implied here are plural, as shown by the noun(they).

  • Someone leftย theirย backpack on the table.

ย Here, the usage of โ€œtheirโ€ is made so that the ownership of the object on the table is unknown, but to point to the object and express the ownership of the object, the word โ€œtheirโ€ is used.ย 

  • Someoneย parkedย theirย bicycle in a towing zone.ย 

Someone parkedย his or herย bicycle in a towing zone.

Consider the above two-sentence; if the personโ€™s gender is unknown, we can use both of the above-mentioned sentences. But using โ€œtheirโ€ makes the sentence sounds more pleasant than his or her and is easy to use in verbal and written language.


Main Differences Between There and Their

  1. โ€Thereโ€ is an adjective or adverb, noun, pronoun, adjective, or interjection in grammar. โ€œTheirโ€ is a possessive pronoun.
  2. โ€œThereโ€ can be used to indicate a place, time, matter, or point in a process. โ€œTheirโ€ can be used to imply the ownership of an object by a person.
  3. โ€œThereโ€ is used to indicate a singular noun. โ€œTheirโ€ is used to point to the plural noun almost always, except when the gender and identity of the owner are unknown.
  4. โ€œThereโ€ is used to indicate the things which are already described and to prevent the unnecessary repetition of the names of the subject. โ€œTheirโ€ is used to indicate the ownership of an object which may or may not be already described in the conversation.
  5. โ€œThereโ€ can sometimes be used in place of a noun. โ€œTheirโ€ will always be used before a noun and not be used without another noun.
Difference Between There and Their
References
  1. https://www.lexico.com/definition/there
  2. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/their
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