# There Is: il y a

https://langs123.com/en/french/etre-avoir/il-y-a/
CEFR A1–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> **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

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 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

- **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

| Form | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **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

| Form | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **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

| Form | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **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

- **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

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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

| il y a | voilà |
| --- | --- |
| 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

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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 |