The expression “Il ya”

The expression “Il y a”
The expression il y a… is one of the most frequently-used French expressions. It means “there is…”
or “there are…”
Since this is an idiomatic expression, il doesn’t change according to the gender or number. It means
“it” and not “he.” It’s always il y a even when there’s more than one of something.
Il y a is usually followed by:
-an article, usually an indefinite article, like un, une, and des.
-an adverb of quantity like moins… que (less… than), plus… que (more… than), and beaucoup
(very much)
-a number
For example:
Il y a une fille dans le parc. = There is a girl in the park. (article)
Il y a moins de fruits que de légumes. = There are less fruits than vegetables. (adverb of quantity)
Il y a trois fleurs dans le vase. = There are three flowers in the vase. (number)
Note that after the adverbs of quantity beaucoup (a lot of), moins (less), and plus (more), you have
to use de as in “there is less of…” or il y a moins de…
For example:
Il y a moins de café dans la tasse. = There is less coffee in the cup
Il y a plus de bruit dans ma chambre = There is more noise in my room
To make il y a negative, place n’ in front of y and pas after a, the conjugated form of the verb avoir. Il
y a becomes il n’y a pas. In a negative sentence, the indefinite articles un, une, and des change to
de, meaning “(not) any.”
For example:
Il n’y a pas de fleurs dans le vase. = There aren’t any flowers in the vase.
Il n’y a pas de filles dans le parc. = There aren’t any girls in the park.
There are times when you’ll want to put il y a in a question. You have already studied how to make
question sentences by using est-ce que… or inversion. You can use either one of these methods with
il y a.
When using est-ce que, add est-ce qu’ in front of il y a as in :
Est-ce qu’il y a des filles dans le parc ? = Are there girls in the park?
Est-ce qu’il y a des fleurs dans le vase ? = Are there flowers in the vase?
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materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of Middlebury Interactive Languages.
When using inversion, place y first, then invert il and a. Because you will end up with two vowels side
by side, you must add a t between them in order to maintain fluidity. You link a, t, and il with dashes.
Il y a becomes y a-t-il as in:
Y a-t-il des filles dans le parc ? = Are there girls in the park?
Y a-t-il des fleurs dans le vase ? = Are there flowers in the vase?
Il y a can also be used with interrogative adverbs such as combien (how much, how many), and
pourquoi (why). In this case, the interrogative is placed first in the sentence, followed by either est-ce
qu’il y a or y a-t-il as in:
Pourquoi est-ce qu’il y a des filles dans le parc ? = Why are there girls in the park?
Combien de fleurs y a-t-il a dans le vase ? = How many flowers are there in the vase?
Il y a is a very useful expression to know how to use in all situations. Practice it often.
© 2011 Middlebury Interactive Languages. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these
materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of Middlebury Interactive Languages.