Why do people make mistakes with the right usage of "there" and"their"?Is it rocket science?!

Answer 1

For some of us it is very easy, and for others it is very difficult. All of us are better at some things than others. The English language does not always make sense.

I think this poem can help us understand why so many people have such trouble with English spelling and word usage.

When the English tongue we speak
Why is break not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew, but likewise few?
And the maker of a verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard,
Cord is different from word,
Cow is cow, but low is low,
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose and dose and lose,
And think of goose and yet of choose,
Think of comb and tomb and bomb,
Doll and roll and home and some.
And since pay is rhymed with say,
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood and food and good;
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone -
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sounds and letters don’t agree.

Answer 2

Same reason people screw up "its" and "it's" or use "nite" for "night" and "thru" for "through." Blame the schools, or blame the culture, or blame technology. We simply don't read and write as much as we used to, so we're not getting as much practice. And we're also in a much bigger hurry, so people just let things go. I've been told, "You know what I mean, so why does it matter?"

Maybe it is a dark, downward spiral into illiteracy, but there was a time when people could do complex math in their heads, and now we have calculators. There was a time when people could pick up a phone and call a friend - now we have IM and say "R U there?" and "LOL" and all that. Language and culture is an ever-evolving thing. We don't spell or say things the way they did in Elizabethan times, or the Dark Ages, or even during the Victorian era a mere 100 years ago. In the greater scheme of things, I think there's more important stuff to worry about.

Answer 3

No, it's not rocket science, but it is an indication of the poor education students in this country receive. I was in an upper division college course, and after the first exam the professor had to give a lecture on the difference between its and it's and there and their. That was fun.

Answer 4

No, it is not rocket science. Some people are just not informed or they just don't care.
Just in case someone doesn't know the answer, the difference is the following:
There - a place
Their - possession of more than one person or entity.

Answer 5

It's not rocket science, but education in this country is terrible. We have children learning how to save the rain forest, but not the basic foundations of the written english language.

Answer 6

I teach 7th grade English and this drives us all crazy as well. It's difficult to teach attention to detail. These words are called homonyms and sometimes remembering which one to use is difficult. Kids learn the skill, practice the skill over and over, and then they don't apply it to their own writing. It's maddening! For all of you who have difficulty with determining which one to use, here's a trick I teach:

For example: there and their - take the t of of each word and you get here and heir. The first one means "a place" and the second word means "to eventually own something" like "the heir to the throne." Therefore, there = a place and their = possession.

Answer 7

It's not hard, but it requires a tiny bit of effort. When you look at the atrocious spelling, punctuation and grammar that is found in places like this, (and that still receives answers) kids probably figure, 'Why bother?'.

Answer 8

No.. not rocket science... and neither is knowing when to use 'a' or 'an' .. drives me CRAZY!

Answer 9

Simply put, there just totally clueless when it comes to using they're heads. Their is nothing we can do about it. Two bad.

Answer 10

They probably didn't pay attention to their third grade teacher.
How about to and too?