Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

their

/ðɛɚ/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.33 in modern English

Syllables: their
IPA: /ðɛɚ/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

det

Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural).

det

Belonging to someone (one person, singular), or occasionally to something.

adv

Misspelling of there.

contraction

Misspelling of they’re.

Example Sentences

"they will meet tomorrow at their convenience"
"this is probably their cat"
"For all things, even Celestial Luminaries, much more atmospheric meteors, have their rise, their culmination, their decline."
"For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places."
"Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete."
"Proponents of adding a gender-neutral option to state identification documents say it would remove a form of discrimination against nonbinary people by providing them with the means to carry identification that matches their identity."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *þaizǭ Proto-Norse ᚦᚨᛁᛉᛟ (þaiʀo /⁠þaizō⁠/) Old Norse þeirader. English their From Old Norse þeira, þeirra. Replaced native Old English heora.

Origin

Source language: Old Norse

Word Breakdown

Root: þeira

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ðɛɚ/
British English: /ðɛə/

Inflected Forms

deir (alternative, pronunciation spelling) thair (alternative, archaic) theire (alternative, archaic) theyr (alternative, archaic) theyre (alternative, archaic) thir (alternative, archaic)

Derived Forms

theirself theirselves

Phrases

everybody and their cousin everyone and their cousin everybody and their dog everyone and their dog everybody and their grandma everyone and their grandma everybody and their mother everyone and their mother

Frequently Paired Words

they them theirs Ime me myselfmemysen mine mymineme

Homonyms

they're (pane–pain merger) there

Rhymes With

there where care they're air share hair fair wear square aware rare

Questions

How do you pronounce their?: The recorded pronunciation is /ðɛɚ/.
What does their mean?: Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural).
Where does their come from?: It is traced to Old Norse.

How to pronounce their

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “their”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ðɛɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “their”.
Repeat and practice — Say “their” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.