Homophones: they're, their and there

These three homophones often lead to difficulty. Try to make sure that you know which is which:

"they're" is perhaps the easiest to remember. It is the shortened form of "they are".
For example: They're catching a flight at 11.45.

"their" means "belonging to them".
For example: Their house is in Broad Street.

"there" has two uses:
      1) to mean a place
For example: The post office is over there.

      2) with the verb "to be" (in phrases like "there is", "there are" etc)
For example:There are 26 letters in the alphabet.

See if you can choose the correct words to fill the gaps in the following sentences. Click on the button alongside a word to see if you're right.

1. They always take ......... dog with them on holiday.

    their     they're     there


2. Let's wait ......... alongside the exit.

    their     they're     there


3. Ask them if ........ coming tomorrow.

    their     they're     there


4. ........ building an extension to our school.

    Their     They're     There


5. ........ are over 1200 students at our school.

    Their     They're     There


6. We'll call in at Mcdonalds if ........'s time.

    their     they're     there


7. ........ football team is at the top of the league.

    Their     They're     There


8. Sam is always ........ in good time.

    their     they're     there


9. Dad was pleased that they had done so well in ........ exams.

    their     they're     there


10. I'm afraid ........ going to find the move very stressful.

    their     they're     there


11.My parents won't be coming as ........ both working on Saturday.

    their     they're     there


12. The teacher told them to leave ........ books on her desk.

    their     they're     there

USA Spelling Books
UK Spelling Books

<--- Click the appropriate link on the left for my list of recommended spelling books available from Amazon.
Roger Smith



Spelling it Right


Roger Smith
Follow spellingitright on Twitter


Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently


Click here for:
USA Spelling Books
UK Spelling Books

List of exercises
Advice
HomePage
Contact us


Always
P
r
o
o
f
r
e
a
d

t
o

a
v
o
i
d

m
a
k
i
n
g

s
i
l
l
y

m
i
s
t
a
k
e
s