# For my 9yo: they're,there,their,your,you're,lose,loose, etc... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168 "2015-11-10T04:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/1 "2015-11-10T04:16:08Z")
I wrote this down tonight to quiz my 4th grade daughter. It’s just a few of my pet peeves, in a few sentences. My plan is to dictate and have her write it down, but figured I’d share it and invite people to improve upon it: > [@](#): > > Their car is there, and they’re there too, but their keys aren’t there. Your car is there, but you’re not there. > > Your necklace is loose, don’t lose it. They’re not going to want to lose their money. You’re going to have to replace their necklace, it wasn’t yours. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/2 "2015-11-10T04:22:11Z")
GAH the lose/loose thing is perhaps my biggest pet peeve re: the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/3 "2015-11-10T04:27:28Z")
Are you going to do this with her every day? Unfortunately, people don’t learn by being bonked over the head; they learn by usage, repetition, and reinforcement, which takes time. Your sample text, although correct, can actually engender confusion rather than elucidation. I have the same peeves as you. It incenses me, for example, when I read someone use ‘loose’ when they mean ‘lose’. I must admit, however, that at 9 years old, I probably wrote ‘loose’ when I meant ‘lose’ so I’d cut her a little slack. You have 9 more years to reinforce good vocabulary and grammatical habits in your daughter. No need to rush it in one shot. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/4 "2015-11-10T04:37:23Z")
Aw come on everybody, I think a typical 9-year-old would think it’s great fun to learn all that. That was the age when we all thought it was so cool to be able to spell antidisestablishmentarianism and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I staunchly support OP’s endeavor to stanch the deluge of these particular mis-used words. ---
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/5 "2015-11-10T04:41:57Z")
Haha, yeah she’s a smart little gal. 7 words won’t take very long, she might even get them all, already. She was recently accepted to arguably the best elementary school in the state. Only problem is the new school was a year ahead when she got there. She reads a lot, grammar isn’t her weak suit. I only ever “bonk” her on the head as a joke, and it’s called a “bop”. Heh > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Are you going to do this with her every day? Unfortunately, people don’t learn by being bonked over the head; they learn by usage, repetition, and reinforcement, which takes time. Your sample text, although correct, can actually engender confusion rather than elucidation. > > I have the same peeves as you. It incenses me, for example, when I read someone use ‘loose’ when they mean ‘lose’. I must admit, however, that at 9 years old, I probably wrote ‘loose’ when I meant ‘lose’ so I’d cut her a little slack. You have 9 more years to reinforce good vocabulary and grammatical habits in your daughter. No need to rush it in one shot. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/6 "2015-11-10T04:46:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I staunchly support OP’s endeavor to stanch the deluge of these particular mis-used words. Oh, I do too. I simply hope the OP has realistic expectations, and doesn’t become too disappointed if the kid doesn’t grasp it all right away. Also, learning to say much less spell ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’ was seen as a personal challenge when I was a kid, so it was fun, kind of like a game. Perhaps the OP can make it more of a game than a chore or a test. ---
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/7 "2015-11-10T05:05:54Z")
This isn’t adversarial in the slightest. We have fun with this. I was just hoping the Dope could improve upon my grammar primer, or maybe just take something from it. ---
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/8 "2015-11-10T05:12:57Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Also, learning to say much less spell ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’ was seen as a personal challenge when I was a kid, so it was fun, kind of like a game Yes, for me it was Czechoslovakia. It was a game, and I only learned that one based on a racist joke I won’t repeat. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/9 "2015-11-10T05:45:40Z")
Rote memory is about the only way to keep those words straight. I like the OP’s phrase. I wonder if it could be sung to music. That would really make it stick in a child’s mind. Schoolhouse rock grammar lessons were some of the best I’ve seen for young kids. Primarily because they were done in song and kids don’t forget songs. Youtube has several Schoolhouse rock lessons. I don’t know if they have one on these words or not. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/10 "2015-11-10T06:06:48Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > GAH the lose/loose thing is perhaps my biggest pet peeve re: the English language. In a recent discussion where someone was complaining of being born to lose (meaning keys, important papers, etc.), a friend of mine mentioned as an aside that decades before, he once saw a tattoo on a woman reading, “Born Too Loose.” Said he still sometimes spent sleepless nights wondering about that. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/11 "2015-11-10T06:16:32Z")
It’s its own. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/12 "2015-11-10T06:24:13Z")
I don’t know. If you don’t understand the underlying rules, how does _“Their car is there”_ look any better than _“There car is their”_? I’d recommend instead a mnemonic that connects the correct spellings to the meanings of the words. Something like _“Don’t lose that o; it’s the only one we’ve got.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/13 "2015-11-10T07:31:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t know. If you don’t understand the underlying rules, how does _“Their car is there”_ look any better than _“There car is their”_? Agreed. I think there are people for whom example phrases (containing an easily-transposible choice) like that just make the choice harder to remember. (I don’t have problems with spelling, but I do seem to have a deep-rooted problem with binary choices getting swapped in my memory) > [@](#): > > I’d recommend instead a mnemonic that connects the correct spellings to the meanings of the words. Something like _“Don’t lose that o; it’s the only one we’ve got.”_ Yup, and phrases like “there’s a moose (or goose) on the loose!” - I think someone is not so likely to misspell ‘moose’ (or ‘goose’), as ‘mose’ (or ‘gose’) are not common words. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/14 "2015-11-10T07:46:58Z")
> [@dirty1](#): > > I was just hoping the Dope could improve upon my grammar primer, or maybe just take something from it. It’s not really grammar that you’re addressing here–just spelling. In fact, the success of this spelling lesson is predicated on her prior grammatical knowledge. Without it, it could be meaningless to her. However, the real, tremendous value for her–both cognitively and for her English language arts skills–is that you are doing anything at all with her involving language. Lots of research keeps indicating that bonding itself is of prime importance to cognitive development with language. The soundness of the pedagogy is not really that important in comparison. Oh, and if you’re concerned about punctuation, be sure to take care of that comma splice at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/15 "2015-11-10T07:48:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t know. If you don’t understand the underlying rules, how does _“Their car is there”_ look any better than _“There car is their”_? [Le ver vert va vers le verre vert.](https://ververt.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/le-ver-vert-va-vers-le-verre-vert2.jpg?w=500) (Full explanation [here](https://ververt.wordpress.com/category/s1/page/3/).) ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/16 "2015-11-10T15:29:06Z")
Without encouraging you to have her learn everything from a screen, but use it as a useful aid to mix things up, there’re an awful lot of online resources she can use. Some examples are [ESL/EFL Quiz: They're, Their or There (Renee Swanson)](http://a4esl.org/q/f/x/xz61mrs.htm) - this tests their, there and they’re - and also [adelescorner.org](http://adelescorner.org), [really-learn-english.com](http://really-learn-english.com), [englishexercises.org](http://englishexercises.org), [learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org](http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org), [http://www.esolcourses.com/](http://www.esolcourses.com/), [http://ar.akinator.com/](http://ar.akinator.com/), [Tipping Point Adventure Game](http://tippingpointgame.com/tp/playonline.asp), [http://www.interactive.cambridge.org/index.php](http://www.interactive.cambridge.org/index.php), [http://www.englishmedialab.com/Quizzes/](http://www.englishmedialab.com/Quizzes/) etc. Once you’ve checked them to see if they’re suitable (I’ve used them in class but not this semester) you could probably leave her to explore the websites if she’s motivated enough to not get distracted. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/17 "2015-11-10T16:20:07Z")
They’re eating their lunch over there. You might try coming up with sentences with we’re/wear/where, principle/principal, and capital/capitol. My pet peeve isn’t homonyms, though, it’s the misspelling of “separate”. I hate seeing it as “seperate”. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/18 "2015-11-10T16:32:44Z")
You might want to make sure that she is aware that knowing correct usage is one thing, and correcting other people’s usage is another. Just a tip from a former 9-year-old member of the grammar police who was not treated with the respect that my position deserved. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/19 "2015-11-10T16:34:00Z")
You might want to make sure that she is aware that knowing correct usage is one thing, and correcting other people’s usage is another. Just a tip from a former 9-year-old member of the grammar police who was not treated with the respect that my position deserved. > [@](#): > > My pet peeve isn’t homonyms, though, it’s the misspelling of “separate”. I hate seeing it as “seperate”. There’s “a rat” in separate. (I still use that one to this day). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168/20 "2015-11-10T16:44:01Z")
Sense and since are another pair of words that cause trouble. It’s been years since I saw Kathy. Please pick me up a bag of chips since you’re going to the store anyway. The rabbit senses danger as the hungry wolves get closer and closer… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-my-9yo-theyre-there-their-your-youre-lose-loose-etc/737168.md?page=2)