Theirs or *Their’s | Meaning, Spelling & Use
Theirs is a third-person plural possessive pronoun and a gender-neutral singular possessive pronoun.
“Their’s,” written with an apostrophe, is sometimes used instead of theirs. However, this is incorrect and should be avoided. While possession is usually indicated by adding ‘s to the end of a word, possessive pronouns don’t take an apostrophe.
- I enjoyed my dessert, but Tina and Jay didn’t enjoy their’s.
- I enjoyed my dessert, but Tina and Jay didn’t enjoy theirs.
- That’s not our car, it’s their’s.
- That’s not our car, it’s theirs.
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How to use theirs in a sentence
As a possessive pronoun, theirs is used in place of a noun to indicate ownership of something by someone else. It’s closely related to the possessive determiner “their.” However, while “their” is always used before a noun to indicate possession, theirs is never used to modify a noun.
Hannah and Tim can’t find their luggage.
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Ryan, E. (2023, October 05). Theirs or *Their’s | Meaning, Spelling & Use. Scribbr. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/common-mistakes/theirs-or-theirs/
