Okay, a show of hands . . . how many people have seen the word “there,” “their,” or “they’re” misused in the last 24 hours?
All of you, right?
Let’s review:
- There: A specific place. (“You can put that book over there.”)
Also used as an interjection. (“There! It’s done!”)
- Their: The possessive case of “they.” (“Then he stole all their gold and gave it to the poor.”)
- They’re: A conjunction combining the words “they” and “are.” (“Hurray, they’re here!”)
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I love Mangled Monday. I get to feel all smug that I use these words correctly, and grumpy at everyone else that doesn’t!
I am enjoying your Mangled Monday so much. I use them in conjunction with a couple of other sources for the “Grammar Gremlins” portion of the American Lit class I teach at our homeschooling co-op.
Oh, this one just bugs me! I hate seeing these misused when it seems so easy to me to keep them straight. (Yes, I know that just because it’s easy to me doesn’t mean it’s easy for other people.)
May I suggest a MM topic? Quote marks used for “emphasis.” Oh, that just gets my knickers in a twist!
Hmmm. this reminds me of a comment left recently. Should I feel flattered?
It frustrates me to see it’s, they’re, etc. misused because it’s so easy to test for contractions (but perhaps not conjunctions *g*). And speaking of contractions, some of my high school teachers used to say and write could/would/should of, which bugged me so much.
I don’t have problems remembering this rule, though it does bug the crap out of me when I see these words used incorrectly. It makes people seem stupid, actually.