Il y a says that a thing or a person exists or is somewhere, in the singular and in the plural. Il y a never changes; it goes with un, une, des, a number or a quantity: Il y a un chat. Il y a trois chaises.
Summary
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| Point | Rule | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form | il y a + un / une / des or a number, always the same form | Il y a un chat. / Il y a trois chats. | There is a cat. / There are three cats. | |
| Question | rising intonation | Il y a un café ici ? | Is there a café here? | |
| Quantity | il y a + du / de la / beaucoup de + noun | Il y a du lait. / Il y a beaucoup de monde. | There is some milk. / There are lots of people. | |
| Negation | il n’y a pas de + noun | Il n’y a pas de lait. | There is no milk. | |
| Question | est-ce qu’il y a? | Est-ce qu’il y a un métro ? | Is there a metro? | |
| What | qu’est-ce qu’il y a ?: what is there, what is wrong | Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans le sac ? | What is there in the bag? | |
| Voilà | voilà points at what you see; il y a says that it exists | Voilà le bus ! / Il y a un bus. | There's the bus! / There is a bus. | |
| Inversion | y a-t-il + noun | Y a-t-il une pharmacie près d’ici ? | Is there a pharmacy near here? | |
| Nothing, no one, no more | il n’y a plus de / rien / personne | Il n’y a personne ici. / Il n’y a plus de pain. | There is nobody here. / There is no bread left. | |
| Trap | no le or la after il y a: a known thing is placed with être | Le chat est dans la cuisine. | The cat is in the kitchen. | |
| Trap | il y a means “there is”; il a means “he has” | Il y a un parc près d’ici. | There is a park near here. |
Overview
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- Il y a says that a thing or a person exists or is somewhere: “there is”, “there are”. Il y a un chat dans le jardin.There is a cat in the garden.
- Il y a never changes: it serves for one thing and for several. Il y a un livre sur la table. / Il y a deux livres sur la table.There is a book on the table. / There are two books on the table.
- After il y a comes a noun with un, une, des or a number. Il y a une banque. / Il y a des enfants. / Il y a trois chaises.There is a bank. / There are children. / There are three chairs.
- For a quantity, il y a takes du, de la, de l’ or beaucoup de. Il y a du pain. / Il y a de la soupe. / Il y a beaucoup de bruit.There is some bread. / There is some soup. / There is a lot of noise.
- For the partitive articles and quantities, see Partitives and Quantities.
- A specific noun (le, la, mon) does not follow il y a: its place is said with être. Le chat est dans le jardin. / Mon sac est sur la chaise.The cat is in the garden. / My bag is on the chair.
- For être and the place of a known thing, see Être and avoir.
- Il y a + a length of time also means “two years ago”: see Prepositions of Time.
- To answer without repeating the noun (il y en a trois), see The Pronouns y and en.
Form: the affirmative sentence
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| Form | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| il y a + un / une + singular noun | Il y a un parc près d’ici. / Il y a une pharmacie en face. | There is a park near here. / There is a pharmacy opposite. | |
| il y a + des + plural noun | Il y a des enfants dans la cour. / Il y a des fleurs sur la table. | There are children in the yard. / There are flowers on the table. | |
| il y a + number + noun | Il y a trois chaises. / Il y a vingt élèves dans la classe. | There are three chairs. / There are twenty pupils in the class. | |
| il y a + du / de la / de l’ + uncountable noun | Il y a du lait. / Il y a de la soupe. / Il y a de l’eau. | There is milk. / There is soup. / There is water. | |
| il y a + beaucoup de / un peu de / trop de + noun | Il y a beaucoup de monde. / Il y a un peu de vent. | There are lots of people. / There is a little wind. |
- The place is said with a preposition: see Prepositions of Place.
Form: negation
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| Form | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| il n’y a pas de + noun | Il n’y a pas de lait. / Il n’y a pas de chaises. | There is no milk. / There are no chairs. | |
| il n’y a pas d’ + vowel + noun | Il n’y a pas d’école ici. / Il n’y a pas d’ascenseur. | There is no school here. / There is no lift. | |
| il n’y a + plus de / jamais de + noun | Il n’y a plus de pain. / Il n’y a jamais de bruit ici. | There is no bread left. / There is never any noise here. | |
| il n’y a + rien / personne | Il n’y a rien dans le frigo. / Il n’y a personne ici. | There is nothing in the fridge. / There is nobody here. |
- Before y, ne becomes n’: il n’y a pas. Il n’y a pas de lait.There is no milk.
- In the negative, un, une, des, du and de la become de. Il y a un bus. / Il n’y a pas de bus.There is a bus. / There is no bus.
- For the other negations (ne … plus, ne … rien), see Negation.
Form: questions
Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A1.
| Form | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| il y a + noun + ↗ | Il y a un café ici ? / Il y a des toilettes ? | Is there a café here? / Are there toilets? | |
| est-ce qu’ + il y a + noun | Est-ce qu’il y a un métro ? / Est-ce qu’il y a du pain ? | Is there a metro? / Is there any bread? | |
| qu’est-ce qu’il y a + place | Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans le sac ? / Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à la télé ? | What is there in the bag? / What's on TV? | |
| qu’est-ce qu’il y a ?: what is wrong | Qu’est-ce qu’il y a, Léa ? — Rien, ça va. | What's the matter, Léa? — Nothing, I'm fine. | |
| y a-t-il + noun | Y a-t-il une pharmacie près d’ici ? / Y a-t-il des places libres ? | Is there a pharmacy near here? / Are there any free seats? |
- In y a-t-il, ‑t- stands between a and il; y a-t-il does not change in the plural. Y a‑t-il un bus ? / Y a‑t-il des bus ?Is there a bus? / Are there any buses?
- For other questions, see Questions.
- Canada: In Québec speech, the particle ‑tu also makes a question: y a-tu. Y a-tu du lait ?Is there any milk?
Pronunciation: il y a
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- Il y a is said as one group: /il ja/. Il y a un chat. / Il y a des chats.There is a cat. / There are cats.
- Y a-t-il is said /ja til/, with the t pronounced. Y a-t-il un bus ?Is there a bus?
- In speech, il y a is often reduced to y a /ja/, without il. Y a du pain. / Y a pas de problème.There's bread. / No problem.
- For all liaisons and elisions, see Liaison and Elision.
Use: il y a
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| Use | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| A thing in a place | Il y a un sac sous la chaise. / Il y a deux pommes dans le sac. | There is a bag under the chair. / There are two apples in the bag. | |
| People | Il y a quatre personnes dans ma famille. / Il y a vingt élèves dans la classe. | There are four people in my family. / There are twenty pupils in the class. | |
| The places of a town | Dans ma ville, il y a un musée et deux cinémas. / Il y a une gare près de chez moi. | In my town, there is a museum and two cinemas. / There is a station near my home. | |
| An event | Il y a un concert samedi. / Il y a une réunion à dix heures. | There is a concert on Saturday. / There is a meeting at ten o'clock. | |
| The weather | Il y a du soleil. / Il y a du vent ce matin. | It is sunny. / It is windy this morning. | |
| A problem | Il y a un problème avec mon téléphone. / Il y a quelque chose sur la route. | There is a problem with my phone. / There is something on the road. |
Compare: il y a and voilà
Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A1.
| il y a | voilà | Level |
|---|---|---|
| says that a thing exists or is there: information | points at a thing or a person you see or who arrives, here and now | |
| Il y a un bus devant la gare.There is a bus in front of the station. | Voilà le bus !There's the bus! | |
| a noun with un, des or a number | a specific noun or a pronoun: voilà ma sœur, me voilà | |
| Il y a un taxi.There is a taxi. | Voilà ma sœur ! ¦ Me voilà !There's my sister! / Here I am! |
Typical errors
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| Wrong | Right | Rule | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il a un parc près d’ici. | Il y a un parc près d’ici. | “there is” is said il y a; il a means “he has” | |
| Il y ont des enfants dans le jardin. | Il y a des enfants dans le jardin. | il y a never takes a plural form; English “there are” has one, French does not | |
| Il est un chat dans le jardin. | Il y a un chat dans le jardin. | “there is” is il y a, not il est; il est describes someone or something known | |
| Il y a le chat dans la cuisine. | Le chat est dans la cuisine. | with a specific noun (le, la), the place is said with être | |
| Il n’y a pas des chaises. | Il n’y a pas de chaises. | des → de | |
| Y a-il une pharmacie ? | Y a‑t-il une pharmacie ? | between two vowels, ‑t- is written: y a-t-il | |
| Est-ce qu’il y a-t-il un bus ? | Est-ce qu’il y a un bus ? | one question marker only: est-ce qu’ or inversion |