A1 · être, avoir and there is
il y a — there is, there are
One form for the singular and the plural.
At a glance
- Remember
- il y a never changes.
- Form
- il y athere is, there are
- Signal words
- un
- une
- des
- beaucoup de
- combien de
- Trap
- Wrong:Il y sont deux problèmes.Right:Il y a deux problèmes.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending negation question marker
| there is, there are | il y a |
| there is no | il n’y a pas de |
| there was | il y avait |
| is there …? | y a-t-il … ? |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
il y a is the same in the singular and the plural.
Il y a un problème. Il y a deux problèmes.There is one problem. There are two problems.
As a rule no definite article follows il y a.
Il y a une boulangerie ici.There is a baker's here.
Negated, the article becomes de.
Il n’y a pas de pain.There is no bread.
A particular thing takes être, not il y a.
La boulangerie est en face.The baker's is opposite.
Example sentences
Il y a beaucoup de monde aujourd’hui.There are a lot of people today.
Il n’y a pas de place.There is no room.
Y a-t-il un médecin ici ?Is there a doctor here?
Il y a trois chambres dans l’appartement.There are three rooms in the flat.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The verb gets made plural, because English does it: «there *are* two problems» comes out as il y sont deux problèmes. There is no such form. And il y a le pain is not «there is bread» but nothing at all — after il y a the article is indefinite, or there is a number, or there is neither.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
il y a says that something exists. The form never changes — not for number and not for gender. English changes the verb («there is a problem», «there *are* two problems») and French does not: il y a un problème, il y a deux problèmes.
It is usually followed by an indefinite or partitive article or a number, hardly ever by a definite one. To say where a particular thing is, use être instead — the same split English makes between «there is a bakery here» and «the bakery is over there».
Negated it is il n'y a pas de, with the same change of article as after any other negative.
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