They're waiting in their car over there.

Did you notice that the title of this post has three words that sound exactly the same? Enter the homonyms they're, their, and there. These words are commonly mixed up or confused with one another, a typical struggle encountered when using homonyms.

Very simple, really. Here's the scoop:

1) they're is a contraction (i.e., two words scrunched together with some stuff missing in the middle) of they and are. The apostrophe signifies that there used to be some characters, but we've omitted them. In this case, we're throwing away the space and the a. It's just a way to streamline what we're saying. It's a bit more casual than using separate words. So instead of saying "They are going on vacation tomorrow," we would say "They're going on vacation tomorrow."

2) their is a plural possessive pronoun. It signifies that something belongs to them. For example, "When they go on vacation, they'll be driving their car." The car belongs to them.

3) there specifies location. "The book is on the table, right over there" or "The car is over there." There is also used with is, are, was, were, etc. to indicate existence. For example, "There are airplane races in Reno each year" or "There is gum in your hair (d'oh!)."

While there are many challenges in the English language, they're not insurmountable, and people who put forth the extra effort to master this language will find their lives enriched.