1. Diction: Their, There, They’re; To, Too, Two; and Your and You’re
Writing Lab
Diction: Their, There, They’re; To, Too, Two; and Your and You’re

2. There “There” is an expletive and an adverb of place.
Correct: There are over one hundred applicants on file.
Correct: I think we should put the couch over there.

3. Their “Their” is a possessive pronoun.
Correct: They are proud of their heritage.

4. They’re
“They’re” is a contraction for “they are.” Correct: They’re proud of their heritage.

5. There, Their, and They’re
When spoken, “there,” “their,” and “they’re” sound similar, so careless writers tend to confuse the spelling.

6. To
“To” is a preposition used to introduce prepositional phrases and infinitive phrases.
Example:
There is a real readiness on the part of Congress to listen to American citizens.

7. Too “Too” is an adverb meaning “also” or “very.”
Correct: Most of us think our taxes are too high, too.

8. Two
“Two” is the spelling for the cardinal number 2. Correct: Give me two beers.

9. To, Too, and Two
When spoken, “to,” “too,” and “two” sound similar, so careless writers tend to confuse the spelling.

10. Your “Your” is the possessive form of “you.”
Correct: Your incredulous stories amaze me.

11. You’re “You’re” is the contraction for “you are.”
Correct: You’re supposed to send an editorial to the newspaper.

12. Your and You’re
When spoken, “your” and “you’re” sound similar, so careless writers tend to confuse the spelling.

13. That’s all, folks!
This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series
Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon
To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson