This week in my year 3 English Language Development class I reviewed pronouns. When one student made a mistake with “their” and “there”, I knew we needed to do a mini-lesson on these English homophones.
Homophones are words that sound the same when you say it, but have a different spelling and different meaning. “Their, There, and They’re” are homophones that even native English speakers mistake all of the time (just ask my family and friends, this is a “touchy subject”).
Their
When we use this spelling, we want to describe something that belongs to them.
For example, my mom and dad named their cat “Brooklyn”.
The cat belongs to them.
Who is “them”? My mom and dad.
In Spanish this is when we use su/sus or suyo/suyos, etc.
There
When we use this spelling, we want to describe a place that is different from “here”.
For example, when the bank manager arrived to work the money was not there.
There is a place.
Where is “there”? The bank.
We can also use this spelling to talk about the existence of something or the presence of something.
For example, there are a lot of trees in the forest.
The trees exist and are present in the forest.
In Spanish this is when we use allí or hay.
They’re
We use this spelling when we intend to say “they are”, but we contract the letters (combine the two words).
For example: My mom and dad said they’re not going to the forest today. They’re tired.
They are not going to the forest today. They are tired.
In Spanish, this is when we use ellos estan or ellos son.
I hope this explanation helps!
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With gratitude,
Elyse
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