Their or there?
their is a determiner meaning “Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural)”; there is an adverb meaning “In or at a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) that is…”. Use their as a determiner and there as an adverb. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) their is about as common as there.
What is the difference between their and there?
| their | there | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | determiner | adverb, interjection, noun, pronoun |
| Meaning | Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural) Belonging to someone (one person, singular), or occasionally to something | In or at a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) that is perceived to be away from, or at a relative distance from, the speaker (compare… At that point, stage, etc., visualised as a distinct place Used to offer encouragement or sympathy; see also there, there and there now |
| Example | they will meet tomorrow at their convenience | I know Bristol quite well as I used to live there |
| Forms | deir | none |
| Pronunciation | /ðɛə/ /ðɛː/ /ðeɹ/ | /ðə(ɹ)/ /ðɛə(ɹ)/ /ðɛː(ɹ)/ |
| In writing | 2,138 times per million words | 2,042 times per million words |
Sources: their and there in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of their and there
their
- 1
Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural)
they will meet tomorrow at their convenience
- 2
Belonging to someone (one person, singular), or occasionally to something
there
- 1
In or at a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) that is perceived to be away from, or at a relative distance from, the speaker (compare here)
I know Bristol quite well as I used to live there
- 2
Used to offer encouragement or sympathy; see also there, there and there now
There, there. Everything is going to turn out all right
- 3
That place (previously mentioned or otherwise implied)
We need someone to take us from here to there
- 4
Used as an expletive subject of be in its sense of “exist”, with the semantic, usually indefinite subject being postponed or (occasionally) implied
There are two apples on the table. [=Two apples are on the table.]
- 5
At that point, stage, etc., visualised as a distinct place
He did not stop there, but continued his speech
- 6
Used to express victory or completion
There! That knot should hold
- 7
That situation; that position
You rinse and de-string the green beans; I'll take it from there
- 8
Used with other intransitive verbs of existence, in the same sense, or with other intransitive verbs, adding a sense of existence
If x is a positive number, then there exists [=there is] a positive number y less than x
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, their or there?
their appears 2,138 times per million words; there 2,042 times per million words.
their 2,138 times per million wordsthere 2,042 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search their vs there?
“their vs there” is searched about 18,100 times a month on Google and 940 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“there vs their”, “their or there”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.