“there” vs. “they're”
If you can substitute "they are" and the sentence still reads naturally, write "they're"; otherwise, if the sentence is about a place or introduces existence, write "there."
there
"There" indicates a place ("stand over there") or introduces existence in a sentence ("there's a problem"), functioning as a dummy subject that doesn't point to any real location in that second use. "There" has stayed remarkably stable since Old English "þær," retaining its core locational meaning across more than a millennium of sound changes that have reshaped much of the rest of the language's vocabulary.
they're
"They're" contracts "they are" down to one word ("they're coming over later"), the apostrophe standing in for the missing a, the identical shorthand used in "we're" and "you're." "They're" is a comparatively recent written convention: "they" itself was borrowed from Old Norse during the Viking settlement period (replacing native Old English pronouns), and the contraction "they're" only became a standard written form once apostrophe-marked contractions became common printing practice in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The real distinction
Because "there" and "they're" sound identical, the mix-up is almost always a fast-typing slip rather than a real misunderstanding of the grammar — most writers who make this error can immediately spot and correct it on a careful re-read, which distinguishes it from genuine grammatical confusion like affect/effect, where writers may not know the rule at all. Because "there" so often appears at the very start of a sentence introducing existence ("there's a problem," "there are two options"), while "they're" almost always appears with a following adjective, noun, or verb form ("they're happy," "they're the winners," "they're leaving"), checking what immediately follows the word in question is usually a faster, more reliable test than trying to recall the underlying grammar rule from memory, especially when proofreading quickly. Some style guides note that "there" used to introduce existence ("there is," "there are") is itself sometimes criticized on stylistic grounds as a weak, padded sentence opener compared to naming the actual subject directly, a separate stylistic concern from the spelling confusion but one that shows up in the same sentences often enough that careful editors flag both issues together during a revision pass. Voice-to-text software and dictation tools are especially prone to choosing the wrong member of this identical-sounding trio, which means writing produced by dictation deserves an extra-careful manual review pass specifically for this word group. This makes the there/they're pair one of the lowest-stakes homophone mix-ups to fix once flagged, since re-reading the flagged sentence almost always makes the intended meaning obvious immediately.
Examples with “there”
- The keys are right there on the table.
- There's a great little café nearby.
- We'll meet you there at noon.
- There used to be a bakery on this corner.
- Is anyone still there?
- There's plenty of time before the show starts.
- Set the chairs down over there.
- There's a reason he hasn't called yet.
Examples with “they're”
- They're planning to visit next month.
- I heard they're moving to a new city.
- They're always the first to arrive.
- They're not sure which flight to book yet.
- They're excited about the new project.
- I think they're already on their way.
- They're hoping the weather improves by the weekend.
- They're the ones who organized the whole event.
Memory trick
Read the sentence with "they are" spelled out; if it still sounds like ordinary English, the contraction "they're" belongs there, and if the sentence is instead pointing at a location, the plain word "there" is correct. If in doubt, try both substitution tests in sequence: first check whether "they are" fits (favoring "they're"), and if it clearly doesn't, check whether the sentence is naming or introducing a location or existence claim (favoring "there") — running through both tests explicitly, rather than relying on instinct, catches nearly every real case. A quick final gut-check: read the sentence with "they are" spoken aloud in place of the word in question, and trust whichever version sounds like a complete, natural sentence rather than nonsense.