2.10: Structure - Il y a

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Objectif

In this section, you will learn how to use the expression il y a.

Media Alternative

Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.

On étudie !

(a) Use il y a to say "there is" or "there are" in French. It is usually followed by an indefinite article (un, une, des) or a number:

Il y a un livre sur la table. (There is a book on the table.)

Il y a trois ordinateurs dans la salle de classe. (There are three computers in the classroom.)

Il y a des tables dans le café. (There are tables in the café.)

Il y a trente-cinq étudiants dans la classe. (There are thirty-five students in the class.)

(b) The negative form of this expression is il n'y a pas de, d'. It is followed by a noun without an article. Use the contracted d' before a noun that begins with a vowel. This expression is similar to "there isn't any..." or "there is no..." in English.

Il n'y a pas de chaises dans le café. (There aren't any chairs in the café. There are no chairs in the café.)

Il n'y a pas d'ordinateur dans la salle de classe. (There isn't a computer in the classroom. There is no computer in the classroom.)

— Il y a combien de personnes dans le café ?

— Il y en a dix.

— Il y a combien d'étudiants dans la classe ?

— Il y en a trente-cinq.

(d) The pronoun en in the above replies means something like "of them" in English. For example:

Il y en a deux. (There are two of them.)

Il y en a beaucoup. (There are many of them.)

(e) To simply ask if there is something or isn't anything, say Est-ce qu'il y a.... or Ya-t-il... ?

— Est-ce qu'il y a un crayon par ici ? (Is there a pencil around here?)

— Oui, il y en a cinq sur la table. (Yes, there are five of them on the table.)

— Y a-t-il des dictionnaires ? (Are there any dictionaries?)

— Oui, mais il n'y en a pas beaucoup. (Yes, but there are not a lot of them.)

(f) To ask what there is, or what’s wrong, we say Qu'est-ce qu'il y a... ?

Note

There is another use of the expression il y a that has nothing to do with "there is, are". It can also be used the same way as the word "ago" in English. You will learn this later in this course. For a general overview of the used of Il y a in French watch this video: Il y a.