Their vs. There
I know what you are thinking. "Does the sheriff think, I'm stupid?"
I mean, this is first grade stuff, peeps! I assure you, dear followers, I don't think you are stupid. I don't think I am stupid either - well, that might be debatable...lol. BUT I will tell you this IS a mistake I make - quite frequently, actually.
Here's the thing, though-I don't do it on purpose. I know the difference. As well as I'm sure you do to.
But for those who don't, here's the difference:
There is referring to a place. Or the existence of something.
"Where's my math book?"
"It's over there, bozo!"
"I heard there was rockin party down at the club tonight."
Their indicates possesion.
"What time is their flight leaving?"
Oh! And let's not forget about They're. It's a contraction of they and are. It can only be used as a subject (who or what does the action) and verb (the action itself).
"They're leaving in 10 minutes! Get your butt downstairs!"
"I'm so glad they're finally figuring out you can't ride a horse like that."
So, pretty easy right? Right...but I'm telling ya' - these little boogers get confused in my ms all the time. I think it's my brain. Nah, it has to be my typing fingers. I don't know what the problem is, because I do know the difference. Sometimes they just slip past.
Check your wip's for this simple, yet obvious mistakes, peeps! After all, you don't want to look like you don't know the difference, do you? I didn't think so.
~JD
26 comments:
We all make this mistake when typing slower than our brains are racing. I also type you're instead of your all.the.time. Arg!
Proofread, people, so those little typos don't dumb us down in the eyes of our readers :))
Great post, Justine -- as always!
Finally! A grammar faux pas I'm in no danger of committing! Whew...
I've seen that error a lot lately, and I've even caught it a few times in my own blog posts. Thing is, I *know* which one is correct, I don't even have to think about it, but sometimes, my fingers don't get the correct message and type whichever one they feel like typing. lol.
Such an easy mistake to make! I even do it when I'm writing a grammaer exercise. LOL. My fingers are just working faster than my brain :)
Typing definitely gets in the way. Always good to be reminded. :)
I know I have made that mistake. It's a great reminder. They're are times when their are not enough ways to say thank you for there, I mean your, help. Their, I said it. :)
CD
Yep, I know better, but sometimes I just type stupid. lol.
It's always good for a reminder. I love the grammar police badge btw.
I know better but it happens. I catch myself doing this every so often and I think --DUH STUPID. That's what happens when the words start blurring together.
Thanks!
I make those mistakes all the time! And then I feel so dumb!
My fingers make this mistake before my brain can catch up. And I'm always doing "thier" instead of "their" all the time. Grrrr.
Hahah! Oh, the English language and its many homonyms. I think a lot of writers screw up on these at times. (=
Jojamma, just for future reference, a homonym is one of a group of words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. ;)
Sorry! Jojomama! The least I could do is spell your name right! LOL
If only word could figure this out and stop telling me that my character speak in sentence fragments.
Plus I have a character named Long. How many times do I have to tell a new system to stop checking for capitalization?
Great advice from the police though, just because it seems obvious doesn't mean it doesn't happen!
This has to be one of the stupidest mistakes a writer can make. Usually when we do it, it's simply a brain cramp or finger cramp. I'm convinced of it.
Sometimes my fingers slip too. Like everyone else, I think it's my brain on a go slow. :)
Yep, it's always these easy ones that are most overlooked.
Wow! That's only one of my problems! I write historical fiction for children and right now I'm struggling with 17th century Shropshire dialect! Argh!!!
The fifth-graders were terrible about this. I tried every game I could think of, but some just kept repeating the same mistakes. At the end of the year, I'd get cards that read, "Your the best teacher." Sigh.
This one's a very easy one to miss--especially when my typing fingers are flying!
Good post!
Their are so many people out they're that they just don't have a clue how irritating there lack of understand of simple grammar skill irritates us jeenyuses...LOL...
YES,I used every version of Their, there and they're in the wrong context...so sue me...or call me bad names and tell my daddy...LOL...
Be blessed. Be a blessing...and use the correct forms...I loves me some Pink Floyd...
DJ GlenMC
Now theirs a lesson I can sink my teeth into!!
:)
Their vs there seems so remedial, but it's amazing how many people mess up the two words! Then you add in your to, two, and too(s) and life becomes almost unbearable! :P
Wow their are people out their who get this confused? ;P LOL!
My biggest peeve is the your vs you're. Or alot.
It always surprises me when people mess this one up! It's so easy!
Justine, their is no way I would ever make that mistake. Baha ha ha ha. :)
Thanks for the reminder.
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