common fanfiction mistakes

there / their / they're

T H E R E

there - an adverb describing the position of one subject (sometimes in relation to a secondary subject)
A used when explaining or describing the location of something.
B describing the state of being of something, generally used as there is/ there's and there was or there will be.

A 1. the ball rolled over there

A 2. she's stood there, next to the blue door

A 3.
person A: "his mother is really ill, and everyone is visiting their house later to visit them."

person B: "I'm considering going over there [meaning the house of the subject; the mother] after work to see how she is recovering."

A 4.
person A: "want to come to the movies with us tomorrow night?"

person B: "sure, I could even drive us there, so we don't have to catch the bus."

B 1.
"There is nothing to fear, but fear itself"

B 2. - present tense
there's no food left in the fridge

B 3. - past tense
there was no food left in the fridge

B 4. - past tense
there will be no hope for the future of the planet, if we continue to ignore global warming

B 5.
there's a storm brewing

T H E I R

their - a possessive pronoun stemming from the pronoun they.
used to indicate possession or ownership or responsibility, usually over a noun.
used generally to show the collective possession over something.
used as an alternative at hers/his when the character's second person pronouns are they/them.

1. their religious beliefs were rather extreme.

2. it's their right to plead the fifth and remain silent while being interviewed by the police.

3. the tennis racket was stolen from their shed.

T H E Y ' R E

they're - a contraction of the pronoun they and the verb are. Meaning that a collective of people, or person, is something (A), or is presently fulfilling an action (B).

A | They are [insert adjective - a 'describing word']

A 1. have you seen the three stooges? they're so funny!

A 2. they're kidding, right? they can't have such a dumb dress code!

A 3. - could be about a collective of people, or about someone with they/them pronouns

they're so hot!

B | They are [insert active verb - an action/'doing word']

B 1. they're just painting the bedroom

B 2. they're going to the gym a lot

B 3. they're going for a jog before they pick the kids up from school

examples of them all in one sentence

1. there's (A) this new kid at my school. they're (B) nonbinary and their (C) name is Kaden

2. they're (D) standing over there (E), by the brick wall, laughing with their (F) girlfriends.

A. there is - as in describing the 'state of being' of the sentence subject.

B. they are - used as a personal pronoun in the second person to describe the identity of the sentence subject (adjective - nonbinary).

C. their - used as a possessive personal pronoun - the name is their's, because it belongs to them.

D. they are - a collective completing an action (active verb - standing)

E. there - adverb describing where the sentence subject are portioned in relation to an object (the brick wall)

F. their - the possessive collective pronoun - the girlfriends are theirs as they are in relationships with the members of the collective sentence subject.

HOW TO USE

is it the position of something, in relation to the position of something else?
- yes; use THERE

is it a prediction or statement about an inanimate object(s)?
e.g. - there will be no tomorrow, there is not enough clean water in Africa
- yes; use THERE

is it possessed by another character?
- yes; use THEIR & THEIR'S

is it possessed by another collective of characters?
- yes; use THEIRS

is it describing a character with they/them pronouns (in the present tense - 'right now')?
- yes; use THEY'RE

is it describing a collective of characters (in the present tense - 'right now')?
- yes; use THEY'RE

is it explaining what a character is doing ( in the present tense - 'right now')?
- yes; use THEY'RE 

is it explaining what a collective of characters is doing (in the present tense - 'right now') ?
- yes; use THEY'RE