Essential French Expression

Meaning there is, there are; ago Literally it has there Register normal Pronunciation [ee lyah] IPA [i lja]

Usage notes: There are few expressions more useful than il y a, the French equivalent of "there is/are" and "ago."

Il y a = there is, there are

Il y a is most commonly used in one of three constructions:

1. Il y a + indefinite article + noun

Il y a une coccinelle dans le jardin. There’s a ladybug in the garden. Il y a des problèmes avec cet arrangement. There are some problems with this arrangement.

il y ont

It doesn’t matter if what comes next is singular or plural; in the present tense, the expression is always il y a. Il y ont does not exist.

2. Il y a + number + noun

Il y a trois étudiants qui ont réussi à l’examen. There are three students who passed the test. Il y a deux choses à faire demain. There are two things to do tomorrow.

3. Il y a + indefinite adjective or pronoun

Il y a plusieurs solutions possibles. There are several possible solutions. Je pense qu’il y a quelqu’un dans la cave. I think there’s someone in the cellar.

Il y a in other tenses

Il y a is made up of three* words:

il – the subject “it” y – the adverbial pronoun “there” a – the third person singular present tense of avoir – “to have”

il ya

Il and y never change. However, since a is the third person singular present tense of avoir, you can say there was, there will be, etc., by conjugating for that tense:

Il y avait une coccinelle dans le jardin. There was a ladybug in the garden. Il y aura une coccinelle dans le jardin. There will be a ladybug in the garden.

Il y a in questions

even though the verb is a form of “be” in English (was, were, will be, etc), the French verb in this expression is always a form of, not

There are two different ways to ask questions with il y a:

Place est-ce que directly in front of il y a and remember the required contraction.

Est-ce qu’il y a un problème ? Is there a problem? Est-ce qu’il y a des solutions ? Are there any solutions ? Combien de coccinelles est-ce qu’il y a dans le jardin ? How many ladybugs are there in the garden? Qu’est-ce qu’il y a ? What’s wrong?

With inversion

Invert il y a by placing the pronoun y first, then invert il and a, and connect them with -t-

Y a-t-il un problème? Is there a problem? Y a-t-il des solutions ? Are there any solutions ? Pourquoi y a-t-il un coccinelle dans le jardin ? Why is there a ladybug in the garden? Qu’y a-t-il ? What’s wrong?

y-a-t-il

y-a-t’il

y-a t’il

y a-t’il

y a t’il

y’a-t-il

y’a-t’il

ya-t-il

ya-t il

ya-t’il

ya t’il

There is only one correct inversion spelling and it consists of one empty space, two hyphens, and no apostrophes:. All of the following variations—and any others you might encounter—are wrong:

Informally, the first word is dropped and il y a is pronounced simply ya.

Il y a with negation

To say "there isn’t" or "there aren’t," place n’ in front of y and pas after a. The preposition de must precede the noun that comes next.

Il n’y a pas de problème. There are no problems. Il n’y a pas de solution. There’s no solution. Il n’y a pas de coccinelle dans le jardin. There are no ladybugs in the garden.

Il y a = ago

When followed by a period of time or temporal adverb, il y a is the French equivalent of "ago":

Je lui ai parlé il y a deux semaines. I talked to him two weeks ago. Il y a 5 ans que j’ai vendu ma voiture. I sold my car 5 years ago. Il est parti il y a longtemps. He left a long time ago.

Expressions and proverbs with il y a

Il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu. There’s no smoke without a fire. Il n’y a pas de roses sans épines. There’s no rose without a thorn. Il n’y a pas de sot métier (il n’y a que de sottes gens). Every trade has its value. Il n’y a que les montagnes qui ne se rencontrent pas. There are none so distant that fate cannot bring them together Il y a loin de la coupe aux lèvres. There’s many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip. Il y a quelque chose qui cloche There’s something amiss. Il y a un temps pour tout. There’s a right time for everything. Où il y a de la gêne, il n’y a pas de plaisir. Comfort comes first, There’s no point in being uncomfortable. Tant qu’il y a de la vie, il y a de l’espoir. Where there’s life, there’s hope.

Also see expressions with y.

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