Their or they're?
their is a determiner meaning “Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural)”; they're is a contraction meaning “Contraction of they + are”. They sound the same (/ðɛə/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) their is about 7.2 times as common as they're.
What is the difference between their and they're?
| their | they're | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | determiner | contraction |
| Meaning | Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural) Belonging to someone (one person, singular), or occasionally to something | Contraction of they + are |
| Example | they will meet tomorrow at their convenience | none recorded |
| Forms | deir | none |
| Pronunciation | /ðɛə/ /ðɛː/ /ðeɹ/ | /ðɛə/ /ðɛː/ /ðeɪə/ |
| In writing | 2,138 times per million words | 295 times per million words |
Sources: their and they're 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 they're
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
they're
- 1
Contraction of they + are
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 they're?
their appears 2,138 times per million words; they're 295 times per million words.
their 2,138 times per million wordsthey're 295 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 they're?
“their vs they're” is searched about 5,400 times a month on Google and 80 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“they're vs their”, “their or they're”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.