Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Grammar on the Porch #1

Is it just me, or do high school English classes slide further and further away with every year? Thank goodness I have "Grammar on the Porch". Good old Grammar loves to visit The Letterbug from time to time for a nice cup of tea and a natter about the English language.

She knows we know - really she does. But just in case...

Image kindly supplied by Toni Grote - visit www.artisttonigrote.blogspot.com to see more of her beautiful artwork.

There, Their, They're

"Now then dears, at first glance it seems so simple - and it is! But these three words trip up many an unsuspecting writer. That is because these words are homonyms - words that sound alike but have different meanings. Have a wee peek at the the following examples and you'll be set like a jelly on the there/their/they're matter..."

There
- denotes a place, and means in, at, or to that place.
  • I will pop my tea cosy over there.
  • Could you please leave my knitting in there?
  • There is nowhere like Grammar's house.

Their
- is a determiner belonging to them, a possessive pronoun.

  • Will you get a ride in their car?
  • I want to play in their bowls team.
  • Their sponge cake was the best.

They're
- the contraction of they are. If you can replace "they're" with "they are" then you know you have used the correct homnym

  • They're going to the movies tomorrow.
  • I wonder what they're going to do afterwards?
  • They said they're going out for hot chocolate.


"Its as easy as that dears. Now be a sweetie and pass me another slice of vanilla sponge cake... I'd get it myself only my hip plays up in this weather. You know.... "

Love Grammar X


1 comment:

  1. Dear Grammar,
    thankyou so much for dropping by, I cant wait for you to get to the, "me, my, saw and seen. If you could post a letter to
    M.Y Husband
    C/O Grammar Less Rd
    UNKNOWN LANGUAGE 3752
    thanking you sincerely,
    Samia
    :-)

    ReplyDelete

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