Is It Theirs or *Their’s? | Meaning, Spelling & Examples

Common Mistakes updated on  November 13, 2023 2 min read
Theirs is a third-person plural possessive pronoun. It’s also used as a gender-neutral singular possessive pronoun. It’s sometimes written as “their’s”—with an apostrophe—but this spelling is incorrect.

Possession is typically indicated by adding ’s to a word, but possessive pronouns are an exception to this rule. This means that “their’s” is always incorrect. This is also true for other possessive pronouns, such as ours and hers. The QuillBot Grammar Checker will fix this and other common mistakes automatically.


Examples: Theirs and their’s in a sentence
I don't know if you can borrow this iPad. It's their's, not mine.
I don't know if you can borrow this iPad. It's theirs, not mine.

I wish I had a friendship as special as their's.
I wish I had a friendship as special as theirs


Their or theirs

The possessive pronoun theirs is used to show ownership of something by one or multiple people other than you. It’s related to the possessive determiner their. However, while their is used to modify a noun, theirs is used to replace a noun.


Examples: Their or theirs in a sentence

Lauren asked them for their opinion on the matter

Is this bike yours or theirs?


Theirs, their's or their'

Theirs is often written as their’s or theirs’ (with apostrophes), but both are incorrect. Theirs is the only correct spelling.

Examples: Theirs, their's or theirs'
I didn't know you had two dogs! Oh no, one of them is their's.
I didn't know you had two dogs! Oh no, one of them is theirs'.
I didn't know you had two dogs! Oh no, one of them is theirs.

Do you want to know more about common mistakes, commonly confused words, or other language topics? Check out some of our other language articles full of examples and quizzes.


Common mistakes

Commonly confused words

Rhetoric

Whoa or woah

Advisor vs adviser

Metonymy

Theirs or their's

Accept vs except

Synecdoche

Ours or our's

Affect vs effect

Verbal irony

Forty or fourty

Among vs between

Irony

Sence or sense

Anymore vs any more

Grawlix


Frequently asked questions about theirs or their's

Is it concern of theirs or their's?

The correct version is concern of theirs (without an apostrophe).

Theirs and their’s are often confused, but “their’s” is never correct. Theirs is a possessive pronoun and doesn’t take an apostrophe.

This is also true for other possessive pronouns, such as hers and ours.

Use QuillBot's free Grammar Checker to avoid mistakes like these!

Is it that's their's or theirs?

The correct version is that’s theirs (without an apostrophe).

Theirs and their’s are often confused, but “their’s” is never correct. Theirs is a possessive pronoun and doesn’t take an apostrophe.

This is also true for other possessive pronouns, such as hers and ours.

Use QuillBot's free Grammar Checker to avoid mistakes like these!

Is it try theirs or try their's?

The correct version is try theirs (without an apostrophe).

Theirs and their’s are often confused, but “their’s” is never correct. Theirs is a possessive pronoun and doesn’t take an apostrophe.

This is also true for other possessive pronouns, such as hers and ours.

Use QuillBot's free Grammar Checker to avoid mistakes like these!

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Julia Merkus

Julia has master's degrees in Linguistics and Language and speech pathology. Her expertise lies in grammar, language and speech disorders, foreign language learning, and child language acquisition.

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