There | They're | Their
A lot of people find they have problems with 'there', 'they're' and 'their', even native English speakers.
- There is an adverb, describing location.
- Their is a possessive pronoun, and should only be used when indicating posession to a group.
- They're is a contraction of 'they' and 'are', with an apostrophe to indicate the absence of the 'a' in 'are'.
How might you remember which spelling to use? A combination of mnemonics and deconstructing contractions should see you in good stead:
- There contains the word 'here' within it, reminding you that there refers to location
- Their contains the word 'heir', within it - an heir soon to posess all their is?
- They're is a contraction of 'they' and 'are' - does the sentence work if you use the full form? If not, you need either 'their' or 'there'
Be careful with spelling 'their' - it is an exception to the English rule of i before e except after c, which you can see in evidence in words such as recieve. If in any doubt, try to remember the hints given above, which will help you to remember how the spelling of the word relates to the meaning of what you want to say.