2.11: Structure - Voici, voilà

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Objectif

In this section, you will learn how to present things with voici and voilà

Media Alternative

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

On étudie !

Voici, voilà

We have already seen a couple of ways to introduce nouns with c'est, ce sont and il y a:

C'est, ce sont and il y a
singulier		pluriel
C'est un chien. (It's a dog.)		Ce sont des chiens. (Those are dogs.)
Il y a un chien. (There is a dog.)		Il y a des chiens. (There are some dogs.)

Now we will look at another way of using the words Voici and Voilà.

Voilà and voici are commonly translated as "here is, here are" when followed by a noun. They are used to indicate the sudden appearance of something or someone, to introduce people or ideas. Alternating between voici and voilà is common when referring to more than one item.

Jeanne montre le campus à Maywi : (Jeanne is showing the campus to Maywi:)

— Voici la bibliothèque et voilà la célèbre tour ! (Here is the library, and there is the famous tower.)

Voici and Voilà are called "présentatifs". They are used to present objects or people, like saying, "Here, there" is or "This is...".

Typically, Voici is used for people or things closer to you (like "here"), while voilà is used for people and things further from you (like "there"). However, this is not always the case; sometimes they are used interchangeably.

Voici and Voilà are usually followed by (a) a definite or indefinite article + a noun, (b) a number + noun or (c) an indefinite pronoun:

Exemples
Français	Anglais
Voici mon livre	Here is my book.
Voilà la voiture	There's the car.
Voici mon père	This is my father.
Voilà les clés	There are, those are my keys.
Voici quelque chose de différent	Here is something different.
Voilà deux bonnes raisons	Those, these are two good reasons.

Each object or person above can be substituted by a direct object pronoun which is then placed before voici or voilà :

Voici et voilà avec pronoms objets directs
Français	Anglais
Le voici	Here it is [le = mon livre, quelque chose]
La voilà	There it is [la = la voiture]
Les voici	There they are [les = mes pères]
Les voilà	There they are [les = les clés, deux bonnes raisons]

Ressources supplémentaires

Practice distinguishing between il y a and voici, voilà : Il y a vs. Voilà, voici.

Écoutez cette chanson : "Le voila, me voici".