Thread: There, their and they're (must read).

Well, I do not consider myself to be a native speaker of English, but (not so) recently it has become the dominant language of use in my daily interactions. In addition, I've been studying in English since the age of 15, so I would say that my level of English is comparable to that of a native speaker, if not better in some aspects.

There is one particular grammatical error that seems to get under my skin. More often than not it is native speakers who commit such grammatical blasphemy. Believe it or not, many of them do not know the difference between "there," "their" and "they're." Though all of these words are homophones, their meanings differ greatly. So, Russians (and native English speakers), take note:

There: a demonstrative pronoun, often indicating location. (Here vs. There)
Their: a third personal plural possessive pronoun. (My, your, his, her, their)
They're: They + are. Enough said.

A good example that utilizes all the aforementioned is this sentence:

"They're fixing their car over there".

Hope that helped

Thanks, but I think, that such 'grammatical blasphemies' are more peculiar to native speakers. I cannot imagine that anyone learning English would confuse "their", "they're" and "there" in written practice.
They could hear it wrong, granted, but the context helps to sort it out.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Thanks, but I think, that such 'grammatical blasphemies' are more peculiar to native speakers.

+1

The same about whose and who's.

Here here!











(another one that annoys me)

are/our
then/than
know/now (even though they do not sound the same)
two/to/too

I agree that it is more a Native thing and when I type I catch myself typing the wrong word especially with know/now and are/our as my head goes faster than my fingers! So, my fingers just type whichever word they think is correct all on their own.

I have also found with my girls being taught only in Spanish in grades K-5 and not having English as a subject per se ... they have a hard time with homophones when writing. They know the difference between the words and the meanings just fine so when they are reading they have no problems. Yet, when they go to write, they will stop and ask me if they are using the correct word.

Yazeed, your sample sentence is a good one and I will be sharing it with them!!!

Reminds me of this:

http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif