There's vs there're or there are in dialogue?

As with everything else in dialogue, it depends on your character and how they'd normally speak. Every dialogue choice is a characterization clue. Someone who knows and uses "there are" when speaking or writing is likely to use "there're" informally. (Just this morning when talking over the plans for the teahouse I want, I told my spouse, "There're three ways to piss me off over the roof and you chose all of 'em.")

+1 to Ari.

Dialog is its own beast; it's characterization, not grammar school. Sound it out in your head in your character's voice, as they would say that line to whomever they're talking to (people vary their speech patterns due to audience, as they vary other social cues like posture and gestures) and write it as they'd say it.

Just so long as it's clear what they're saying; you don't want to go so far overboard that you lose your readers...

Hmmm. It would never have occurred to me to write 'there're' for 'there are'.

It may just be me but, when reading, 'there're' catches my eye as being 'not quite right' more than it conveys any feelings or manner of delivery.

But if it works, it works, I guess.

I'll just add that even though I do say "there're" I usually write "there are" even in dialogue and even with characters who might use the informal contraction because... they sound the same mentally and the contraction does look odd to me. YMMV. (I do use "there's" instead of "there are" though sometimes because speech, unlike written words, is frequently not as well edited so it's a natural glitch of the tongue on occasion.)

I say "there're" and "em" etc, all the time, but when seeing it visually, I think it looks off. When I'm reading and across something like "there're" I'm going to have to stop and decode rather than being able to read fluidly.

heh. Tune-in to the people around you as you go about your day, pay attention to movies and television, and read more—you'll learn some interesting modes of expression. It's all fodder for your dialogue writing. ONLY concern yourselves with correct grammar in dialogue when the character speaking is meant to be ultra-correct in their speech or is someone who is trying to impress and gets it wrong. Characterization, don'tcha know?

Aggy B. said:

I'll just add that even though I do say "there're" I usually write "there are" even in dialogue and even with characters who might use the informal contraction because... they sound the same mentally and the contraction does look odd to me. YMMV. (I do use "there's" instead of "there are" though sometimes because speech, unlike written words, is frequently not as well edited so it's a natural glitch of the tongue on occasion.)

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Me, too. I rarely (if ever?) contract "there are" and I have no problem using "there's" in dialogue even though it's improper, because it's how my characters would speak.

Funny, I have no problem with "there're" but wouldn't use "there's" for plural objects, even in dialogue. "There's" for plural objects just niggles me.

"There're some people over there," works better for me than, "There's some people over there."

On the other hand, it isn't something that bothers me a heck of a lot, if it's used knowingly and not in error. It doesn't stop me in my tracks. Go for whatever you think fits best.

It's not a grammar issue as far as I'm concerned. It's just that to me, no matter where it's used, 'there're' looks odd and catches my eye for the wrong reasons.

MaeZe said:

I know what is grammatically correct for the plural, there are. But in speech we are more likely to say there's and not there're.

It needles my obsessive-compulsive urge to use 'is' when I should be using the plural 'are'.

Should I stop worrying about it?

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In dialogue? Yes. Go by what the character would say.

How people (and characters) speak is a window into how they think, their education level, and who they are. When I write dialogue I'm usually listening to them in my head... and yes, I hear voices - deal with it.