Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilbo1967
Whilst consistency between spelling and pronunciation would make life easier, you would also lose clarity at times.
For example, I just read a sentence in a book where there are some people stood next to some laptops. A character asks, "What are these?". The reply is, "Their computers". If we couldn't distinguish between 'their' and 'they're' by spelling it would not necessarily have come across from that that these computers belonged to the nearby people.
That's just one, hastily recalled, example. I'm sure there are many more/better ones.
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No, the better answer is a completely different word then "their" or "they're" in that place so that there is no confusion. After all in the written word that meaning comes across, but if that was spoken dialog there is not enough context to know which their you mean there.