Il y a - "there is" or "there are" - is one of the most important expressions in the French language. Learn about the meanings, uses, negation, and interrogative powers of il y a, and then come back here to share your thoughts.
More: French expressions
More: French expressions
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A variation to this very useful phrase could be -il y avait (there were) and il y aura (there will be). My French-teacher-wife gave me those two along with il y a and they became the first of my conversational French expressions that I use daily since moving to France three years ago.
It seems to me that when people are speaking French rapidly “il y a” gets contracted to just “ya”.
You are right Thomas. As a French native speaker and teacher of French as a second language, I confirm what you wrote.
@ Thomas
Yes, in spoken french “il y a” is often pronounced “y’a”
In your example “there was no cat”… “il n’y a pas eu de chat” can you please explain why you use ‘eu’
she uses ‘eu’ in the expression “il n’y a pas eu de chat” because eu is the past participle of avoir (you conjugate avoir to get the ‘a’ in il y a or the ‘avait’ in il y avait. When using past tense you conjugate a helping verb (either avoir or sometimes etre, in this case we use avoir) and then add a past participle. So, ‘there was a cat’ would be il y a eu de chat and ‘there was no cat’ is il n’y a pas eu de chat’
What is the difference between “Il y avait un chat” and “Il y a eu un chat.” I’m having trouble understanding which to use when.
Great! I’ve been learning French with a book and CDs. I’ve already encountered il y a, but nowhere have I seen what it means. Thanks to Laura, now I know. It’s a great help to know.
Pardon,j’ai fait une faute de frappe.
De quoi qu’il y a 4
Y a Catherine de Russie
De quoi qu’il y a 3
Y a Troyes en Champagne
De quoi qu’il y a 2
Y a deux testaments
L’Ancien et le nouveau oh oh noh oh !(bis)
Mais y a qu’un ch’veu sur la tête à Mathieu !
Merci beaucoup laura,
you dont know how much you have helped me, as a french i do your quizz every day. They help me lern & understand french more &very first, which i really appreciate. You make my day with french, i wish you the best laura because you are the best!
Au revoir!