Their, There, They're — and the Homophones That Cost Marks

Q: What is the quickest way to teach their, there and they're?

Start with they're alone, using the "they are" substitution test — it is a complete test with no judgement required, and removing it leaves a simpler two-way choice. Then teach their as always followed by a noun, and there as containing the word here.

Q: Is it's or its?

It's means it is or it has — "it's raining". Its shows possession — "the dog wagged its tail". This one is genuinely inconsistent with the rest of English, where an apostrophe usually signals possession, so it is best taught as a named exception rather than reasoned out.

Homophone errors are not really spelling errors. A child who writes their instead of there can spell both words perfectly — they have chosen the wrong one. That is a grammar decision, which is why these mistakes survive long after everything else in a child’s writing has been tidied up, and why more spelling practice does not fix them.

What fixes them is a test the child can run in the half-second before writing the word.

Their, there, they’re

The three-way version is the most common, and each has a test:

They’re = they are. If you can say “they are” in its place, it is they’re. “They’re late” → “they are late”. ✓
Their shows possession — it belongs to them. Their always has a noun after it: their house, their idea, their mother.
There is everything else — a place or the word that starts a sentence like “There is a problem.” It contains the word here, which is a genuinely useful hook.

The apostrophe version is the easiest to eliminate first, because the “they are” substitution is a complete test with no judgement in it. Removing they’re from the confusion leaves a simpler two-way choice.

What to do: teach they’re on its own for a week, using only the substitution test. Then introduce their and there as a pair.

Your and you’re

The same structure, and the same fix.

You’re = you are. “You’re right” → “you are right”. ✓
Your shows possession: your book, your turn.

This pair is worth extra attention because it appears constantly in writing children actually do — messages, comments, captions — where the error gets reinforced by seeing other people make it.

When an apostrophe is involved, the substitution test settles it every time. You’re, they’re and it’s all expand to two words, and if the expansion sounds wrong, the word is wrong.

Its and it’s

The one that catches adults too, because it works backwards from every other possessive.

It’s = it is or it has. “It’s raining” → “it is raining”. ✓
Its shows possession: the dog wagged its tail.

The confusion is understandable: everywhere else in English, an apostrophe signals possession — the dog’s tail. With its, the apostrophe means the opposite.

Teach its as the exception it is, rather than expecting the child to reason it out. The rule “apostrophe means it is, never possession — for this word only” is short and correct.

What to do: say plainly that this one is inconsistent with the rest of English. Children accept named exceptions far better than they accept apparent contradictions.

To, too and two

Two is the number. Rarely confused.
Too means also or excessively: “me too”, “too hot”. The extra o is the hook — too many o’s, too much of something.
To is everything else: to school, to run.

“Too” has an extra o because it means extra. It is a small mnemonic and it is genuinely effective.

Why these errors persist

Three reasons worth understanding, because they change how you respond:

The child can spell both words. Testing them on the spellings shows nothing wrong, so the problem is invisible to normal spelling practice.
The wrong word is not flagged by spellcheck, because it is a real word. Written work looks clean and the error survives.
The decision happens mid-sentence, when attention is on meaning. Even a child who knows the rule perfectly in an exercise will pick the wrong one while composing.

Homophone errors are a fluency problem, not a knowledge problem — and fluency comes from repeated use, not from re-explaining the rule. This is the same reason rules learned in exercises take time to appear in free writing.

What to do: stop re-teaching. Move to editing practice instead.

What actually fixes them

Edit, do not spell. Give your child sentences with the wrong word in place and have them find and fix it. This trains the decision, which is the thing that is failing.
One pair at a time. Their/there/they’re for two weeks, then your/you’re. Teaching several pairs at once increases confusion rather than efficiency.
Use the substitution test out loud until it becomes automatic. It has to be fast enough to use while writing.
Check their own writing, a day later. Errors are much easier to spot in your own work after a gap, and finding your own mistake is worth more than having it pointed out.
Accept a slow timeline. These are among the last errors to disappear, often persisting into secondary school even in strong writers. That is normal and not a sign of a wider problem.

Homophones are one of the six patterns worth explicit teaching, and the only one where the fix is editing rather than spelling.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the quickest way to teach their, there and they’re?

Start with they’re alone, using the “they are” substitution test — it is a complete test with no judgement required, and removing it leaves a simpler two-way choice. Then teach their as always followed by a noun, and there as containing the word here.

Why does my child keep making homophone errors when their spelling is otherwise good?

Because it is not a spelling problem. They can spell both words; they are choosing the wrong one, which is a grammar decision made mid-sentence while attention is on meaning. More spelling practice will not help — editing practice, where they find and fix the wrong word in a finished sentence, targets the actual failure.

Is it’s or its?

It’s means it is or it has — “it’s raining”. Its shows possession — “the dog wagged its tail”. This one is genuinely inconsistent with the rest of English, where an apostrophe usually signals possession, so it is best taught as a named exception rather than reasoned out.

At what age do homophone errors usually stop?

Later than parents expect. They commonly persist into the early secondary years and appear in the writing of otherwise strong students, particularly under time pressure. Gradual improvement over years is the normal pattern rather than a clean point at which they stop.

Does spellcheck catch homophone errors?

Generally not, because the wrong word is still a real, correctly spelled word. Some grammar checkers flag common pairs from context, but coverage is inconsistent. This is exactly why the errors survive in work that looks carefully checked.

Should I correct homophone errors in my child’s creative writing?

Not while they are writing. Interrupting composition to fix a homophone costs more in flow than it gains in accuracy. Mark one or two afterwards, or better, hand the piece back a day later and ask your child to find them — self-correction after a gap is far more effective than correction in the moment.

SpellEasy focuses on the words your child gets wrong rather than the whole list, which leaves more of the practice slot free for the editing work homophones actually need. Download free on the App Store.