Grammar Guide
Their vs There vs They’re

The easy one to single out of this bunch is the contraction. It’s the one you can “test” in a sentence very easily. If you can substitute the words “they are” for the “they’re” you’re trying to use in your sentence, then you’re doing fine with the contraction. Here is your example.

Nigel and Chariss are the hero and heroine of Choices Meant for Gods. They’re a formidable couple when they team up to fight Master Rothahn’s enemies.

If the contraction doesn’t work out, you’ve got to choose between a possessive pronoun and a locator. The word “their” is a possessive pronoun (as is “theirs”). The word “there” refers to the location of something or someone. Here are a few examples.

Nigel and Chariss combined their skills to kill the dragon.
Is this prophecy scroll theirs?

Chariss set the scroll over there before the dragon materialized in the training arena.

Nigel and Chariss are in there (location). They’re (they are) using their (possessive pronoun) swords to battle the dragon that materialized in the training arena.

(Sandy Lender has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for fourteen years.)
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, grammar, possessive pronoun, their, there, they're