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Hi ,  Actuallly I have a question in my mind what is the difference between there & their and when we can use it?  Thanx

Miriam · Accepted Answer

Hi, Maitha

I often see native speakes of English (in chatrooms or forums) confusing those two words; but they are very different.

"Their" is the possessive adjective that coresponds to the pronoun "they":
"The children left their books on the desk." (their books= the books that belong to the children)
"This are Mr and Mrs Brown, and this little girl is their daughter." (their daughter= she is the daughter of both of them)

"There", on the other hand, is an adverb meaning "to, at or in that place":
"I liked living there." (=in that place)
"They have a lovely house in the mountains, but I'm not going there for the summer." (=to that place)

And you have also the constructions in which "there" is used in combination with "to be", and also with verbs of perception such as "appear" or "seem". This is called "existential there". This construction shows, precisely, that someone or something exists or happens.
"There is someone at the door."
"Are there any cookies left?"
"There appears to have been a nasty accident."
"There doesn't seem to be a good reason for your actions."

I hope it helps.

Miriam

Maitha · Answer

Thanks Miriam It works

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