✍️ Homophones: tricks to stop mixing up their/there/they’re, your/you’re and its/it’s

Your child understands the story, has great ideas, knows the lesson… and still loses marks because of one tiny word. “Their going to the park”, “your late”, “the dog wagged it’s tail”: these mistakes have a name — homophones. They are words that sound exactly the same but are spelled differently and do completely different jobs in a sentence.

The good news: you don’t fix this by telling a child to “pay more attention”. You fix it with a swap test — the same quick check every time, two seconds long, which gives the right answer. Here are the tricks for each pair, from age 6 to 11, with a table to pin up and sentences to try tonight.

Homophones: why listening isn’t enough

When your child writes “there” instead of “their”, it isn’t a vocabulary problem. They hear the same sound, and nothing in that sound tells them which spelling to choose. Relying on the ear is a coin toss — which is why the same word can be right at the top of the page and wrong at the bottom.

What separates these words is their job in the sentence: one is a short form of two words (they are, you are, it is), another shows who something belongs to, another points to a place. Explaining grammar to a seven-year-old in the middle of a story doesn’t work. That’s where the trick comes in: instead of analysing, you swap the word. If “they are” fits, it’s “they’re”. If the sentence sounds silly, it’s one of the others — and children are very good at spotting silly.

These swap tests are real memory aids: short, always the same, easy to whisper. That’s exactly the spirit of The Big Book of Memory Tricks, which gathers this kind of tip for the whole of primary school.

“their”, “there” or “they’re”: three clues hidden inside

Three words, one sound. Each one hides its own clue.

• they’re = they are. The apostrophe replaces the missing a. “They’re late” → “They are late”: it works.
• there = a place. It hides the word here: here and there. “Put it over there.”
• their = belongs to them. It hides the word heir, someone who inherits things. “Their bikes are new.”

The order to check: first try “they are”. Then ask “can I point to it?”. If neither works, it’s their.

“your” or “you’re”, “its” or “it’s”: the apostrophe test

These two pairs follow one rule: an apostrophe means letters are missing. So the word with the apostrophe can always be stretched back into two words.

• you’re = you are → “You’re funny” → “You are funny”.
• your = belongs to you → “Your coat” (“you are coat” makes no sense).
• it’s = it is or it has → “It’s raining” → “It is raining”; “It’s been a long day” → “It has been a long day”.
• its = belongs to it → “The dog wagged its tail” (“wagged it is tail” is nonsense).

More homophones from age 8 to 11

Once the first pairs are solid (allow a few weeks, not days), add the next ones. The principle stays the same: one clue or one swap per word.

“to”, “too” or “two”

two is the number 2: it has the w of twins and twice. too means “also” or “too much”: the extra o is the extra. to is for everything else: “go to school”, “I want to play”.

“whose” or “who’s”

Same apostrophe test: if you can say who is or who has, it’s who’s (“Who’s coming?”). Otherwise the word asks about belonging: “Whose bag is this?”

“hear” or “here”

You hear with your ear: the ear is hiding inside the word. here is a place, like there and where.

“where”, “were” and “wear”

They don’t all sound quite the same, but children mix them up constantly. where asks about a place (it hides here again). were is the past of “are”: “we were late”. wear is what you do with clothes — and you wear earrings on your ear.

“knew” or “new”, “know” or “no”

The silent k belongs to the knowing family: know, knew, knowledge. “I knew the answer” (the past of know), but “a new bike”. And no is simply the opposite of yes.

“write” or “right”

write belongs to a family with a silent w: write, wrote, written, writing. right means correct, or the opposite of left.

These little words are cousins of the tricky words to learn by heart: the same short practice sessions work for both.

The homophones table to pin above the desk

Print this table and stick it near the homework spot. It’s the tool your child checks when rereading, until the day they no longer need it.

Homophones practice: 12 sentences for tonight

Read these sentences aloud and let your child choose the right word, or have them copy each sentence with the correct spelling. Each time, they say their test out loud before writing: the test matters more than a lucky right answer.

1. (They’re / Their) coming to lunch on Sunday.
2. Put the box over (their / there).
3. The children forgot (there / their) coats.
4. (Your / You’re) my best friend.
5. Is this (your / you’re) pencil?
6. (Its / It’s) going to rain.
7. The cat licked (its / it’s) paw.
8. I have (to / two / too) sisters.
9. Can I come (to / too)?
10. We walked (to / too) the beach.
11. (Whose / Who’s) jumper is this?
12. Can you (here / hear) the birds?

Answers: 1. They’re (they are coming) — 2. there (a place) — 3. their (belongs to them) — 4. You’re (you are) — 5. your (belongs to you) — 6. It’s (it is going to rain) — 7. its (like his) — 8. two (the number) — 9. too (also) — 10. to — 11. Whose (belongs to whom) — 12. hear (with your ears).

Making these tricks stick for good

A child who understood the test on Saturday may have forgotten it by Tuesday: that’s normal, and it isn’t a lack of effort. What makes a trick stick is short, spaced reviews: the next day, a few days later, then the following week. Two minutes is enough each time, with two or three sentences to check.

Another useful habit: while writing, a child’s attention goes to their ideas. Suggest a focused reread that hunts for one thing at a time: first every “there / their / they’re”, then every apostrophe. Tackled separately, each trap is much easier to handle.

For more spelling hooks — “because”, “necessary”, i before e — our article on English spelling and grammar tricks is the natural companion to this one, and our verb tricks deal with “was or were” and “did or done”. If you’d like everything in one place, The Big Book of Memory Tricks gathers them by subject, ready to open five minutes before a test.

A test, a whisper, a reread: that’s all it takes for “their”, “your” and “its” to stop costing marks. Start tonight with just one pair, and let the habit grow.