There their and they’re – homophones

The words ‘there their they’re’ are homophones that are easily confused. This trio falls under the category of commonly confused words. They sound similar which leads to confusion.

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. They are not spelled the same and that does cause a lot of confusion.

 

It is important to understand the difference between these homophones and their usage. The anchor chart above will help us understand the difference.

Let’s discuss these homophones one by one.

There

There is the opposite of here. It is an adverb of place that means in or at that place. It is the most commonly used word among these three homophones. It answers the question of where the action is taking place.

There is a cat under my chair.

There was a long queue at the amusement park.

 

Their

Their is a possessive form of ‘they.’ It simply means ‘belonging to them.’ ‘Their’ is a possessive pronoun. Like other pronouns, it replaces the noun in a sentence.

It is the family’s new car.

It is their car.

Their is used as a plural pronoun to indicate ownership by more than one person. There are times though when it is used in the singular. It usually happens when the identity or the gender of the owner is not known. Their can be used with words like nobody, anyone, someone, somebody etc.

Someone forgot to bring their stationery.

Does anyone know their test score?

 

They’re

They’re is short for ‘they are’ or ‘they were.’ It has no other use. It is the simplest and least confusing of these three homophones.

They’re arriving tomorrow.

They are arriving tomorrow.

They’re late for the party.

They were (or are) late for the party.

 

 

In the above task cards, one of the homophones is missing in the sentences. Read the sentences carefully and write the correct homophone.

 

These cards can be used multiple times if laminated. There are 4 cards on each of the 16 A4 sheets. You will need to print these sheets and cut them into cards. Print these picture cards on card stock and laminate them for durability.

 

 

The above task cards are pretty similar but more challenging. The only difference is that there is more than one homophone that is missing in the sentences. Read the sentences carefully and complete them.

 

The above task cards are also available in the worksheet format in the pack itself. The sentences are the same.

 

In the above worksheet, there are two sentences of which one is correct. The mistake is with the usage of homophones, ‘there their they’re.’ Read the sentences carefully and underline the correct sentence.

 

This worksheet is pretty similar but more challenging to the one above this. The only difference is that there is more than one homophone in each sentence. Read the sentences carefully and underline the correct one.

The answers to the above worksheets are provided inside the pack in two separate answer sheets.

This pack is a subscriber freebie.