“There” vs. “their”

A pet peeve of mine:
Confusing the homonyms “there” and “their” in writing.

The Right Way:
“There” indicates location (like “here”), and “their” is a possessive. There is no excuse for confusing the two. If you are speaking of a group of people collectively owning or possessing something, then it is “theirs.”

In Practice:
Of course, this discourse is neither here nor there.
There are two ways to do this: the easy way and the hard way.

Their purpose is simple: to eliminate grammatical faux pas nationwide.
The girls jumped in their car after their picnic was ruined by a summer thunderstorm.

The police officers left their car parked right there.

About Branson

Branson graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in economics, and is now in the post-baccalaureate pre-med program at Bryn Mawr College. He enjoys writing and photography.
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