I wonder if it’s conditioned by word stress. “There” is usually the object of a phrase (and therefore stressed), while “their” usually modifies a following noun that gets the stress instead.
Would that be true if I’m just saying the word in my head though? I think there’s a case for that since I’m probably thinking of the word in the context of a sentence (any sentence) when I say it in my head.
I wonder if it’s conditioned by word stress. “There” is usually the object of a phrase (and therefore stressed), while “their” usually modifies a following noun that gets the stress instead.
Would that be true if I’m just saying the word in my head though? I think there’s a case for that since I’m probably thinking of the word in the context of a sentence (any sentence) when I say it in my head.
What about “there’s” vs “theirs”? Those would tend to have the opposite stress pattern.
I think I still stress there’s because it’s got that missing i. I go lighter on the theirs.