Their, There, and They’re

Thomas Jay Ryan playing the title character in Director Hal Hartley’s 1997 film Henry Fool.

Their is known as a possessive pronoun because it’s used as a substitute for a more specific group of people who possess something. It is different from there, which is a preposition used to indicate direction or location, and they’re, which is a contraction meaning they are. Notice these correct uses of the above terms:

◊ We are about to pass their house.

◊ I haven’t been there in many, many years.

They’re supposed to be finished with the job by 5 p.m.

◊ If we let them work on our property, the liability for accidents will be theirs.

◊ You can set the boxes down over there.

◊ What do you suppose they’re protesting?

Here are some other possessive pronouns:

my

his

her/hers

you/yours

our/ours

its

More Sentence-level Writing
Varsity Sentence Practice — Appositives
Quick tip about citing sources in MLA style
Who vs. Whom