Their VS There VS They're
On my last pronunciation post, my friend brought up these words. I thought about them and wanted to share what I learned.
Meanings:
- Their: Plural possessive adjective/pronoun
- There: Represents a location; opposite of "here".
- They're: Contraction of "They + are".
Examples:
- Their: That is their car.
- There: Walk over there.
- They're: They're going to school.
 |
| They're going to school in that?! |
Tricky: People know the meaning of these words, but because they sound similar, they tend to spell them wrong (even native English speakers). So...watch out.
Ok, now for pronunciation...Warning:This part will be a little advanced.
I say advanced, because this is how I pronounce these words in a normal/fast speed conversation. If I give emphasis to these words, or if I read slowly, then these words sound the same. However, when I am not really concentrating on pronunciation, this is what I notice:
Pronunciation:
- Their: THe + AIR
- There: sometimes THe + AIR and sometimes D + AIR (or DARE)
- They're: D + EARth* and in some cases D + AIR*
IPA:
- Their: /ðeɹ/or /ðeIɹ/
- There: sometimes /ðeɹ/or /ðeIɹ/ and sometimes /deɹ/or /deIɹ/
- They're: /dɚ/* and in some cases /deɹ/or /deIɹ/*
(/e/ or /eI/? I think it depends on the speaker)
To sum this up, I think "Their" and "There" are pretty similar. I tend to hear a /ð/ sound more when I say "Their", but I could be wrong.
*"Their" can be pronounced two ways depending on the sentence. If used as a function word, then the are in "Their" loses its stress and is a "supporting" verb. This can be seen in the sentence "They're going to the store". Here, the main verb is "going", and the "are" supports it, and thus stress is dropped.
If used as a content word, then the are in "They're" gets more emphasis, hence getting more stress. This can be seen in the sentence "They're pretty smart". Here, the main verb is "are" and so stress falls upon it.
One last thought. If you put emphasis on all these words, I honestly think that they will all be pronounced the same. However, I think if you give emphasis to "They're" it would end up reverting to "They are". Fair enough, don't you think?
Confused? Disagree? Comment below please! I'd like to hear your arguments!
Posts
