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their
[ thair; unstressed ther ]
pronoun
- a form of the possessive case of plural they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun:
their home;
their rights as citizens;
their departure for Rome.
- a form of the possessive case of singular they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun:
- (used to refer to a generic or unspecified person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): A parent should read to their child.
Someone left their book on the table.
A parent should read to their child.
- (used to refer to a specific or known person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context):
I’m glad my teacher last year had high expectations for their students.
- (used to refer to a nonbinary or gender-nonconforming person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context):
My cousin Sam is bad at math, but their other grades are good.
their
/ ðɛə /
determiner
- of, belonging to, or associated in some way with them
their own clothes
she tried to combat their mocking her
their finest hour
- belonging to or associated in some way with people in general not including the speaker or people addressed
in many countries they wash their clothes in the river
- belonging to or associated in some way with an indefinite antecedent such as one, whoever, or anybody
everyone should bring their own lunch
Usage
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of their1
Example Sentences
Some of the product’s features, such as its safe browsing mode or a system that notifies users if their password has been compromised, rely on shared Google infrastructure not solely within Chrome’s purview, she said.
Like his milieu, she said the characters of her memoir, which takes place in Brooklyn from 2016 to 2020, lived in acute awareness of the “ideological bankruptcy” of their time.
Their lack of rim protection got badly exploited by McDaniels, who consistently went over their defense.
The Dodgers never drummed up run support for their ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, succumbing to a shutout for the second time and falling into a three-game losing streak for the first time since last August.
The Kings were 0 for 12 with the man advantage in last season’s series loss to Edmonton, their third consecutive playoff series loss to the Oilers.
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Their Vs. There Vs. They're
’s the difference between their, there, and they're?
Their is the possessive form of the personal pronoun they, essentially meaning belonging to or possessed by them, as in Is that their car, or ours? There is commonly used to introduce sentences or to indicate where something is, as in It’s over there, next to the window. ճ’r is a contraction of they are.
There are many instances in which ٳ’r confused because their pronunciations are exactly the same. (See what we did there?)
There are easy ways to remember which spelling is right, and ٳ’r actually built into each word.
You can remember that their is the one that’s used to show possession (like his and her) by remembering that it includes the word heir (a person who inherits possessions).
When it’s used to indicate location, there functions a lot like here (even though it can mean the opposite), and the word here is right inside of it.
The apostrophe in ٳ’r indicates that it’s a combination of two words and signals that it’s the one you want to use when you mean they are.
Here’s an example of their, there, and ٳ’r used correctly in the same sentence.
Example: It’s hard to work as a team in that environment—when ٳ’r in there, ٳ’r their own worst enemies.
Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between their, there, and ٳ’r.
Quiz yourself on their .there .they're!
In what order should their, there, and ٳ’r be used in the following sentence?
_____ shoes are over _____, right next to where _____ sitting.
A. their, there, ٳ’r
B. there, ٳ’r, their
C. ٳ’r, their, there
D. their, ٳ’r, there
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