Different Pronunciation for They're and Their

[Claudio.teaching.abroad]

Hello all,

I'm a relatively new teacher, teaching in Barcelona.

A student asked me if there is a difference in pronunciation between they're and their. He pronunced they're longer and more like they + are but slightly more together (did sound like one word). He pronunced their differently again; shorter.

I said in England people don't say them any differently (which I think is true), but I said I'd check to be 100% sure.

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference in the accurate phonetics between they're and their?

Thanks so much, regards,
Claudio.

[bds51]

Hello,
Re they're and their: Americans and Canadians don't make a distinction either unless they're hopless pedants.

[Raymott]

There's no difference in AusE.

[Tdol]

None in BrE that I know of.

[apiz]

Hi.
This might help you.

"They're" and "Their will be /ðeər/(BrE) and /ðer/(AmE).
*note that /r/ there is uppercase*

I am convinced that there are no differences between They're and Their.
But I think you can differentiate them using stress and intonation especially for They're.

-Learning Teacher from Asia-

[Tdol]

We're talking about whether the words have different pronunciations within one variant and not whether there are differences between variants.

[amigos4]

It appears that there is no difference when pronouncing their and they're!

[apiz]

We're talking about whether the words have different pronunciations within one variant and not whether there are differences between variants.

Could you please explain further about this statement.

[Claudio.teaching.abroad]

Different varients being American English and British English.

[Tdol]

Are those words homophones in American/Canadian/Australian, etc English? This is not a comparison of the differences between American English sounds and British English sounds.